Ben Carson is standing by his view that a Muslim should not be president of the United States, telling The Hill in an interview that whoever takes the White House should be “sworn in on a stack Bibles, not a Koran.”

Said Carson: “I do not believe Sharia is consistent with the Constitution of this country. Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that’s inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.”

Ben Carson told NBC News he would not support a Muslim as President of the United States.

Said Carson: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”

He also said that Islam, as a religion, is incompatible with the Constitution.

New York Times: “First came the grass-roots support. Now Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has quietly arrived near the front of the Republican presidential field, is scooping up $100,000 a night from wealthy donors in Texas and California — evidence that he is fast transforming from a novelty candidate into one to be taken seriously by rivals and party leaders alike.”

A group of super PACs supporting Carson “already say they have raised nearly $20 million.”

“Ben Carson’s approach to handling Donald Trump’s insults is different from every other 2016 Republican presidential candidate’s: He apologizes for provoking them,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Carson: “I said something that sounded like I was questioning his faith. I really wasn’t. I was really talking more about mine. But it was said in an inappropriate way, which I recognized, and I apologized for that. It’s never my intention to impugn other people.”

“The retired neurosurgeon’s deferential display comes after Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Lindsey Graham found themselves diminished after tussling with Mr. Trump. For Mr. Carson, steering clear of confrontation with his chief competitor for antiestablishment support is part of his effort to become the anti-Trump.”

Ben Carson told The Hill that he’s “embracing the role of underdog and dismissing those who say he doesn’t have staying power to be the Republican presidential nominee.”

Said Carson: “Everything they’ve predicted from the very beginning has turned out to be false, and that will continue to be the case. They have no concept whatsoever about me or my campaign. They want to fit us in a neat little box, and we just won’t fit there.”

“With almost no institutional support among Republicans or billionaires giving to his supporting super-PACs, Carson’s campaign is being kept afloat almost exclusively by small-dollar donations that have been pouring in since the first Republican debate on Aug 6.”

Rick Klein: “The retired neurosurgeon has none of Donald Trump’s showmanship, and he isn’t even a middle-of-the-night attack-Tweeter. But he is in a strong second place in Iowa, just five points behind Trump in the new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll, eclipsing the support of Ted Cruz and Scott Walker combined. A whopping 79 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers view Carson favorably, with only 8 percent (!) viewing him unfavorably.”

“That suggests tremendous upside for a man who is every bit the outsider Trump is, only with, arguably, a more compelling personal story and, inarguably, a less abrasive personal style. The anti-establishment fervor that’s driving Trump has more than enough left over for Carson, evidently. And he’s running stronger than Trump among women and evangelicals in the new poll, too.”

“There is no war on women – there may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country.”

— Ben Carson, quoted by The Hill.

Reuters: “In polls, Carson outperforms most of his fellow candidates, who often have much bigger media profiles, much more political experience and in many cases have track records as governors or senators. While the spotlight has been on opponents like former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Carson has been quietly building a grassroots following. His surprising popularity in the polls has translated into a high number of individual donations that has not been previously reported. Interviews with supporters and conservative activists suggest he is benefiting from a weariness among some Republicans with establishment politicians.”

More than 1,200 Hispanic leaders have gathered in Las Vegas “for, among other things, a presidential candidates forum. Yet out of the GOP’s 16 declared or likely presidential candidates, only one — retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — bothered to show up,” the Washington Post reports.

“Many campaigns cited ‘scheduling conflicts’ for skipping the 32nd annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Instead, at least 13 GOP candidates plan to be in Washington this week to address the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s ‘Road to the Majority’ conference, the latest in a busy series of presidential cattle-call events for social conservatives.”

“What position can a person take who has no animosity toward gay people, but believes in the traditional definition of marriage that would be acceptable?”

— Ben Carson, in an interview on CNN.