Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has decided to follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps when it comes to pandering to the party’s most bigoted and ignorant constituents.
He followed Trump’s offensive CNN debate comment addressing the so-called Muslim problem in the country — and Trump’s refusal to address the incorrect statement at a New Hampshire campaign rally that President Obama is a Muslim — with his own offensive and ignorant comment: that a Muslim should not be president.
Dr. Carson was asked a series of questions about Trump’s comments at the CNN debate, and the doctor acknowledged what Trump could not: President Obama was born in the United States and has never practiced Islam.
These series of questions ended with NBC News’ Chuck Todd asking if Carson believed “Islam is consistent with the Constitution.”
Carson said he did not, and he added “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
Speaking of the Constitution, I guess freedom of religion only applies to Christianity. These bigoted beliefs expressed by both candidates do not come from a place of fear or paranoia like they might for some Americans who subscribe to it. Instead, they come from a place of fear- mongering for cheap votes.
It shows the lack of respect these candidates have for the American people and that they would allow, and even encourage, them to live in ignorance in order to appeal to the fear and prejudice that inevitably springs up.
Trump defended himself on Twitter, his preferred mode of addressing the masses; he justified his silence by saying Obama wouldn’t defend him either.
What he fails to grasp is claiming President Obama is a Muslim is not an insult. It is a factual error that makes the speaker sound uninformed and prejudiced. A responsible candidate would care about correcting such an error.
By failing to refute claims like the ones made by Trump — namely that we have a Muslim problem in this country, President Obama is a Muslim and we have to get rid of them — these Republican candidates show they do not have the best interests of the American people at heart.
Instead of correcting and informing ignorance, they bank on it. They perpetuate it in order to maintain an easy hold on the fear that it creates. When you don’t have the answers to real problems, you can create some fake ones with easy answers.
As Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently said on “The Late Show,” political leaders have chosen to win support throughout history by singling out a groups to ostracize.
It gives everyone a common enemy and easy debate point, but it also horribly damages the fragile fabric of society and results in a teenager getting arrested for building a clock. The willful continuation of ignorance in this country by candidates who refuse to acknowledge facts — and benefit when their constituents do the same — just shows they care more about power in the polls than the people those numbers represent.
jordrile@indiana.edu
