Ben Carson again rejected Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, saying Tuesday that the government should focus on monitoring visitors and tracking Internet activity.
Carson, a Republican opponent of Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” that he opposes Trump’s proposal in the wake of terror attacks.
“It’s just not who we are,” Carson said. “We are not a people who react in a fearful way. You know, when you talk about prejudice, prejudice is usually born out of fear and ignorance. That’s not who we are.”
He also said Trump’s proposal is unconstitutional.
“We do not discriminate on people based on religion — that’s constitutional, that’s in the First Amendment, so we would never want to do that,” Carson said.
Carson has run into criticism himself for comments about Muslims, saying this summer that he wouldn’t support a Muslim for president.
On Tuesday, he advocated tracking anyone who enters the United States.
“Anybody who’s going to be coming to our country, we need to know why they’re coming,” he said.
He also called for closer monitoring of online activity and said the U.S. government should disrupt terror groups’ use of the Internet.
“We need to monitor the Internet much more carefully so that we get early warnings about radicalization,” Carson said.
He said the United States should work more closely with Muslim religious leaders in seeking help identifying radicals.
“It’s a matter, I think, of really emphasizing it — emphasizing to people that you’re not being racist, you’re not being Islamophobic, you know, if you’re doing this,” Carson said.
He added: “Obviously, Americans will feel a lot more comfortable when they hear instances of Muslims turning in radicals.”