October 19, 2008: Powell Endorses Obama, Criticizes Republicans Who Imply that Muslims Should Not Be President

General Colin Powell, the former secretary of state under President George W. Bush, endorses Barack Obama (D-IL) for president. In his endorsement speech, Powell criticizes those who try to label Obama as a Muslim. Powell says in part: “I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says [referring to John McCain (R-AZ), Obama’s opponent in the race], but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim; he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, ‘What if he is?’ Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, ‘He’s a Muslim and he might be associated [with] terrorists.’ This is not the way we should be doing it in America.” [US News and World Report, 10/20/2008]