ALISYN CAMEROTA: What was Dr. Carson thinking when he was saying that a Muslim cannot be president of the U.S.?
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS: He's thinking like someone who loves America first, who wants to protect America. He understands that there are tenets of Islam that hates Jews, will kill homosexuals, will kill Muslims, do not advocate the belief and value systems that made America into country that it is in today. It may have been an unconvenient truth but it is the truth.
CAMEROTA: Armstrong, you're talking about an extremist radical strain, not the strain that millions of American Muslims practice here in this country. You know there are more American-Muslims than there are Episcopalians. You're talking about a radical strain.
WILLIAMS: Dr. Carson was asked his opinion. His opinion was, the timing, at this point he would not vote for a Muslim in the White House. This is why he's not a politician. This is why he's not trying to be politically correct. This is America. It's a place of freedom of speech.
CAMEROTA: And freedom of religion.
WILLIAMS: You express what you believe and how you feel.
CAMEROTA: And freedom of religion.
WILLIAMS: This is not an issue -- it is not an issue of religion to Dr. Carson. This is an issue of one's belief system, on how they will govern. Your beliefs, what you believe in, how you look upon people, how you value people is dictated by what you believe.
CAMEROTA: Armstrong, let me read to you Article VI of the Constitution, which says that anyone of any religion can serve in public office. Here it is, “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Dr. Carson's belief system violates that part of the Constitution.
WILLIAMS: Dr. Carson, Alisyn, as you're alluding to, was not speaking about religion -- not at all. His, like most Americans, in their hearts, if they search themselves and they ask questions, if you see what's going on in the world today and what we're becoming as a nation, if you search yourself deeply and ask yourself, at this time in the history of our country, in the question that was posed to him, which he asked and answered truthfully, is that he would not be comfortable with someone who shares the Islamic Muslim faith in the White House.
CAMEROTA: Is Dr. Carson only --
WILLIAMS: And if Dr. Carson, because -- let me finish, let me finish. And if Dr. Carson, because of his love for America, he is willing -- everything is not about winning the White House for him. It's about standing up for what he believes in, telling the truth. Even if it makes CNN and others uncomfortable, it is what he believes.
