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LeadershipPolitics

Carly Fiorina says she’d be fine with a Muslim president

By
Claire Groden
Claire Groden
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By
Claire Groden
Claire Groden
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September 22, 2015, 9:56 AM ET
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 2
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 0333 -- Pictured: (l-r) Politician Carly Fiorina during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on September 21, 2015 -- (Photo by: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)Photograph by Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEkUyUiNtlk

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina told Jimmy Fallon Monday night she “would be fine with” a Muslim president.

Her statement comes after a rival candidate, Ben Carson, said on Meet the Press Sunday that he wouldn’t support a Muslim president, adding that Islam is “inconsistent with the values and principles of America.”

Fiorina criticized Carson’s comments as unconstitutional, saying that “it says in our Constitution that religion cannot be a test for office.” She pointed to faith as an important aspect of leadership, adding, “I actually believe that people of faith make better leaders . . . but whether it’s a person of Christian faith or Jewish faith or Muslim faith or other faiths, faith gives us humility and empathy and optimism.”

Her comments earned hearty applause from the Tonight Show audience.

Fiorina’s performance in the Wednesday Republican presidential debate earned her a jump in the polls, placing just below frontrunner Donald Trump according to a poll conducted during the three days after the debate.

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