Harry Reid Blasts Ben Carson’s ‘Hateful Rhetoric’ About Muslims

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Monday condemned Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson’s “disgusting” statement that he would not support a Muslim presidential candidate.

I call on every Republican to denounce Ben Carson’s disgusting remarks. That shameful intolerance and bigotry should have no place here.

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) September 21, 2015

During a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Carson said he would “not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.” He later stood by that remark, telling The Hill, “I do not believe Sharia is consistent with the Constitution of this country.”

Reid slammed Carson in a speech on the Senate floor on Monday.

The senator mentioned Kareem Khan, a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq in 2007, who was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

“Like thousands of other soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kareem sacrificed everything for his country,” Reid said.

“But yesterday I watched on ‘Meet the Press’ as a Republican candidate for president of the United States denigrate Kareem Khan and all Muslim Americans. Ben Carson questioned Muslim Americans’ devotion to the United States. He questioned their integrity. And then Ben Carson unilaterally disqualified every Muslim in America from becoming a president of the United States,” Reid continued. “Shame on Dr. Carson. Shame on anyone who spews such hateful rhetoric.”

Reid also criticized Donald Trump, who last week failed to correct a town hall audience member who said President Obama is a Muslim.

“Dr. Carson’s remarks are just another example of Republican candidates refusing to speak for 3 million Muslim Americans,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “We saw it last week with Donald Trump, as he refused to denounce bigotry at his own campaign rally.”