Scarborough to Carson: 'Stop Embarrassing Yourself'

"Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough has some advice for GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, who Sunday brought controversy to his run for the White House by saying he wouldn't support a Muslim for president: "Stop embarrassing yourself."

"Ben, I've got a memo for you," the former congressman said on his MSNBC morning news program. "There's well over a billion Muslims in the world. We all agree, we don't want a terrorist in the White House, [but] being a terrorist and being a Muslim is not even close to being synonymous."

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The controversy started on Sunday, when Carson told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he would not advocate a Muslim, and then later that day, he stood behind his comments in an interview with The Hill, saying he'd only back a Muslim who "publicly rejected all the tenants of Sharia and lived a life consistent with that."

On his show, Scarborough, directing comments to Carson, pointed out that there are "millions of Muslim-Amercians who are fighting for this country. Why don't you join up for the National Guard and then cast your stones?"

National Journal political journalist Ron Fournier, who was part of the morning show's panel, said Carson's comment is "bigger than politics."

"Just because we never had a megalomaniac [as president] doesn't mean we can't," Fournier said. "These guys have the Internet and this thing can take hold if we don't stand up against it and say it's wrong."

Scarborough said there are some candidates, namely, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, calling Carson out about his comments, "unfortunately, you got a guy who is a front-runner who is saying this and not being called out by enough people," Scarborough said.

"There's a sickness. You have Ben Carson going after Muslims; you have Ann Coulter going after Jews. It's like the right, the far right-wing of our party is falling apart."

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