Dr. Ben Carson stepped in it yesterday on Meet The Press but Fox & Friends were there this morning to help bail him out.

In case you missed it, Carson said yesterday, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” He also said he does not believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution.

On Fox & Friends, Kristin Fisher reported on the backlash - with Muslim groups calling on Carson to drop out of the race and Sen. Lindsey Graham calling on Carson to apologize and saying the remark proves he’s not ready to lead the country. In relaying the Carson campaign’s response, Fisher said, with a straight face, “He did not say that a Muslim should not be allowed to run for president, Carson just doesn’t want a Muslim to actually become president.” Then she said enthusiastically, “So Ben Carson not backing down in any way despite calls from some of his opponents to apologize and calls from Muslim groups to drop out altogether.”

Nobody questioned Carson’s ridiculous “It’s OK to run, just don’t win” rhetoric. Instead, cohost Brian Kilmeade suggested Carson was akin to our Founding Fathers and cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck suggested he was just being “real.”

KILMEADE: They were debating whether a Muslim should be a president back in the creation of our country. There’s a whole book written on it. Back then you had Jefferson and Madison debating other great American founders about should a Jewish person be president? Should a Muslim person be president? You can have that discussion and not be labeled a racist, or a Zionist, or anything else.

This is an open dialog. Why is everyone calling on everyone to apologize? It’s an ultimate gotcha moment. You have 16 people in the race and everyone’s just waiting on eggshells.

HASSELBECK: But who’s real? Who’s the real person, you ask? 

KILMEADE: Yeah. Can he just give an honest answer? And now there’s going to be a fourth clarification. That’s how he feels—he would not vote for a Muslim. It doesn’t mean they should not run. It doesn’t mean the rest of America can’t vote for a Muslim. 

So let’s really be real. The transcript makes it very clear Carson was not having a discussion about the meaning of the Constitution or what Jefferson or Madison intended. He was discussing Donald Trump's recent birther moment in which he failed to correct a questioner who claimed President Obama is a foreign-born Muslim. Carson was talking about his personal prejudice.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has since tweeted that her “real” remark was part of her transition to a topic about Hillary Clinton saying she is “real.” But I think Hasselbeck was quite deliberately drawing a contrast.

Watch it below, from the September 21 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters, and decide for yourself.