"Well, I think we should have a database on everybody who comes into this country," Ben Carson said. Carson: U.S. should have a database on all immigrants

The United States should have a database on every immigrant who enters the country, Ben Carson said Friday, addressing comments from Donald Trump that he would not rule out creating a registry of Muslims to track for terrorist activity. At the same time, he called Trump's call for tracking and targeting Muslims specifically as something that would be "setting a pretty dangerous precedent."

"Well, I think we should have a database on everybody who comes into this country," the retired neurosurgeon told reporters at a media availability in Concord, New Hampshire, after filing for the state's Feb. 1 primary election. It was unclear whether Carson was referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has been a component of the Department of Homeland Security since its founding in 2003.


Pressed further, Carson said he hopes that "we already have a database on every citizen who is already here."

"If we don't, we're doing a very poor job," he said.

As far as what he would like to see in such a database, Carson said he wants the country “to be able to know who they are."

He continued, "I want to know where they came from, I want to know where they’re going and why they’re here.”

“That’s already being done,” a reporter interjected.

“If you want to add more things to it, we can talk about it and what the rationale is for it," Carson said.

"Well, the database you're describing is already in place," another reporter responded.

“And that’s what I’m saying," Carson added. "That’s what we should have.”

Asked whether he would support or condemn Trump's comments to have stricter scrutiny of Muslims arriving in the U.S. from places like Iraq and Syria, Carson said he would not.

"I don't think it's a good idea to treat anybody differently. You know, one of the hallmarks of America is that we treat everybody the same," he continued. "So if we’re just going to pick out a particular group of people based on their religion, based on their race, based on some other thing, that's setting a pretty dangerous precedent, I believe.”

Similar to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's answer to Megyn Kelly on Thursday night, Carson said he favors "doing whatever we have to do to protect the American people."

"If, in fact, there are mosques where there is a lot of activity going on that’s radicalizing people, they must be treated differently," he explained, later clarifying that he would apply the same scrutiny toward other institutions harboring and incubating terrorist activity, including churches.

Carson faced a series of questions about his foreign policy acumen, called into question specifically by a New York Times report on Tuesday that quoted Duane Clarridge, a former CIA officer and foreign policy adviser to Carson's campaign, expressing doubt that the candidate was retaining any information related to foreign policy. The Carson campaign later accused the Times of "taking advantage of an elderly gentleman."

The candidate on Friday decried the media for listening to and following a narrative to the effect that, "Oh, he doesn't know anything about foreign policy."

“I cannot explain to you what was going on [in] his mind. I really don’t. You'd have to get that from himself," Carson said of Clarridge, explaining that he had a relatively minor role on his campaign. “He sat in on two sessions, and we appreciate his input, but he has not been a part of, you know, the foreign policy team has no idea what he’s talking about. So I have no idea what he’s talking about."

As far as his reaction to the Times article, Carson remarked, "My experience with many in the media is that they do tend to take things out of context for a story that they want to write. Usually, they've already written the story."