On "Fox & Friends" Monday morning, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Brian Kilmeade rushed to the defense of Ben Carson, who over the weekend claimed that Muslims shouldn't be allowed to be president because their beliefs are "inconsistent with the Constitution."
"They were debating whether a Muslim should be a president back in the creation of our country," Kilmeade began. "There’s a whole book written on it. Back when you had Jefferson and Madison debating other great American founders about whether a Jewish person [should] be president? Should a Muslim person be president?"
"You can have that discussion and not be labeled a racist, or a Zionist, or anything else," he continued. "This is an open dialogue. Why is everyone calling on everyone to apologize? It’s an ultimate 'gotcha' moment. You have sixteen people in the race and everyone’s just waiting on eggshells."
"Who is real?" Hasselbeck asked. "Who is the real person?"
"Can't he just give an honest answer?" Kilmeade replied, seemingly unaware of the fact that Carson did just that, and that the uproar that's followed is a direct consequence of his having done so.
"Now there's going to be a fourth clarification? That’s how he feels -- he would not vote for a Muslim. It doesn’t mean they should not run. It doesn’t mean the rest of America can’t vote for a Muslim."
Watch the segment below via Media Matters.
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