Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Sunday that he didn’t think the United States should increase its scrutiny of mosques or put American Muslims in a database.
It was a deviation from GOP rival Donald Trump, who had said that he would “certainly implement” a national database for American Muslims if elected.
A slew of Republicans seeking the GOP nomination — including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — were quick to condemn Trump’s remarks. Paul joined that group on Sunday during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“Yes, we should follow people who are a risk,” Paul said. “Should we talk to their neighbors and friends, should we talk to their Imam? Sure, all of that is legitimate. But should we target mosques and have a database of Muslims? Absolutely not.”
Paul added that monitoring mosques would require “some sort of a religious czar” that “isn’t consistent with our freedom.”
Watch Paul’s comments:
h/t: Huffington Post
