Rubio: ‘Someone who supports Sharia would not get elected’

Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Monday evening that Muslims who adhere to Sharia law are “not going to get elected” in America.

Distancing himself from remarks from fellow GOP White House hopeful Ben Carson, who said a Muslim shouldn’t be president, Rubio posited that U.S. voters typically reject extreme interpretations of faith in their candidates.

{mosads}“I don’t believe anyone should be disqualified from the presidency because of their denomination and because of their faith,” he told host Sean Hannity on Fox News’s “Hannity.” “I believe in that strongly as a country.”

“Now, I personally also believe if someone believes in Sharia law they’re not going to get elected to anything, much less the presidency,” Rubio said, referencing fundamentalist Islamic law. “That’s just a fact.”

“Whether you’re a Muslim or a Catholic or anything, if you have radical views and values you’re not going to get elected in this country — at least, I would hope,” the senator added. “And certainly someone who supports Sharia would not get elected in this country.”

Carson, whose surging polling numbers have cut into Donald Trump’s lead for the Republican nomination, ignited a firestorm with his comments on Sunday.

“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” Carson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”  “I absolutely would not agree with that.”

Carson’s remarks drew widespread condemnation from the White House, Democratic lawmakers and even his rivals for next year’s GOP presidential nomination

Rubio argued on Monday that context matters for judging presidential candidates of any faith, including Islam.

“There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people in this country who are Muslim but love America,” the Florida lawmaker said. “They’re not political about their religious views with regard to that the way you would see in some other countries in the world.”

Carson said in multiple appearances since this weekend’s interview that his stance only applies to Muslims adhering to an extremist version of their faith.

The retired neurosurgeon ranks second out of 15 candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential candidacy across multiple national polls. Carson nabs 22.7 percent voter support to Rubio’s 5 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.