Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who is running for president, said Tuesday that he would have been more aggressive if a gunman walked up to him and asked him to state his religion.
"I would not just stand there and let him shoot me," Carson said in an interview with Fox News. "I would say 'Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me but he can’t get us all.'"
Since the shooting at Umpqua Community College on Thursday morning, where family members of some survivors have said that the gunman specifically targeted Christians, Carson has been using the hashtag #IamAChristian on Twitter and Facebook.
Yes, #IamaChristian. pic.twitter.com/H25uHSfQ9q— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) October 2, 2015
Carson has also used Facebook as a platform to detail his stances on the nation's gun laws. In a recent post, Carson said there was "no doubt that this senseless violence is breathtaking" but added that he "never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away. "
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Each weeknight, we get to spend time together as I answer some of your questions. Keep emailing them to [email protected] by Dr. Ben Carson on Monday, October 5, 2015
In the Fox News interview, Carson also criticized President Obama for traveling to Roseburg, Oregon to meet privately with the families of those shot there last week. Carson said if he were president, he would not travel to Roseburg.
"Imagine a politician politicizing something," Carson said. "When do we get to the point where we have people who actually want to love our problems rather than just politicize everything? I think that’s what the American people are so sick and tired of."
Speaking at the White House, Obama urged Americans to factor candidates’ positions on gun laws into their choice of who to support.
"This is a political choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in America," Obama said. "We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction."