Written by Jamel Shorter, Staff Writer

Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, has now chosen to take on another chapter of his life—politics.

Carson has been known for making controversial statements during debates. He has talked about everything from the Affordable Healthcare Act to why he thinks “being gay is a choice.”

Despite all of this, in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Carson has surged to second place among Republican primary candidates, behind Donald Trump by one percentage point, 21 percent to 20.

Earlier last week, Carson made comments concerning the possibility of having a Muslim president. In his interview with Jake Tapper on the show ‘State of the Union,’ Carson stated that, in order to be president, “You have to reject the tenets of Islam.” In other words, he thinks that anyone who wants to run for president of the United States and happens to be Muslim will have to renounce their religion in order to fall in line within the traditional American viewpoint of the Constitution. These remarks came almost a week after he said that he wouldn’t advocate for putting a Muslim in charge of this nation.

Carson, a man of color and someone who had to fight his way to the lead neurosurgeon position at Johns Hopkins, should know better than anyone the trials that many minorities face in order to rise to a position of power. When he made these comments, it allowed for people who were Muslim or respect the Muslim religion to find him reckless and insensitive.

Although Carson’s comments can be considered highly prejudiced against Muslims, they may have been taken out of context. In the future, Dr. Carson should be more aware of his words. It’s not that he can’t express his opinions, but he should be more cautious about what is actually coming out his mouth moving forward with the presidential race.