Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is backtracking from previous anti-Muslim statements. He said he meant extremists and that peaceful Muslims are okay.
The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO previously said he would ban Muslims from his Cabinet if elected president and would demand that Muslims take a loyalty oath.
Realizing political realities, Cain has backtracked a bit and told CBS, "This is an example of where I spoke too quickly, because I'm thinking about extremists, not all Muslims. I do recognize there are peaceful Muslims and there are extremists. At the moment that I was asked that question, I wasn't thinking about peaceful Muslims."
Cain, a Christian and solid supporter of Israel, also got into a bit of trouble by commenting that local communities could ban building mosques, although he previously clearly stated that Muslims have a right to build houses of worship.
“Islam is both a religion and a set of laws, and that is the difference between [it and] other religions,” he told Fox News. (Judaism also is a set of laws but does not try claim they can replace local laws -- Ed.)
Cain continued, “The people of the community know best – they have the right to do that (ban a mosque). That is not discriminating against religion” because it is local building decision.
During the controversy over the Ground Zero mosque, Cain declared, “Build[ing] a mosque on private property is one of those guaranteed liberties we have in this country.”