Republican Presidential candidate Dr Ben Carson says Muslims should not be President

A Republic Presidential candidate, Dr Ben Carson, has said that he would not want a Muslim to be President of the United States.

Speaking to host Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press, Carson, who is currently closing in on Donald Trump in the polls, was asked whether a President's faith should matter to voters.

Carson replied: "I guess it depends on what that faith is."

He continued: "If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America then of course it should matter."

"If it fits within the realm of America and is consistent with the constitution, then no problem."

Todd then asked whether Carson thought Islam was compatible with the US constitution, to which Carson replied: "No I do not."

He added: "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation, I absolutely would not agree with that."

However, he was slightly more open to the idea of having a Muslim member of Congress, saying his support would depend on "who that Muslim is and what their policies are."

The issue of religion has once again come to the front of the Republican presidential candidates' selection process, after current front-runner Donald Trump failed to rebuke an audience member at one of his New Hampshire rallies, who said: "The big problem is this country is Muslims," and asked Trump "when we can get rid of them?"

Trump replied: "We're going to be looking at a lot of different things, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there, we're gonna be looking at that and plenty of other things."

President Barack Obama has repeatedly faced claims from the Republican fringe that he is secretly a Muslim, or was born outside of America.

On Meet the Press, Carson dismissed these theories, saying: "I believe he is [American], I have no reason to doubt what he says."