{mosads}In an interview with GQ published last Monday, Cain said that he believes a majority of American Muslims share extremist views.

“I have had one very well-known Muslim voice say to me directly that a majority of Muslims share the extremist views,” Cain said.

Asked if he thought this individual — whom Cain would only identify as “a very prominent voice in the Muslim community” — was right, Cain said that although he found it hard to believe, ultimately he trusted his adviser.

“Yes, because of the respect that I have for this individual. Because when he told me this, he said he wouldn’t want to be quoted or identified as having said that,” Cain said.

In March, Cain made waves when he said that if he were elected, he would not feel “comfortable” in appointing Muslims to his Cabinet.

The comments about Cain’s doctor came at the Holy Land Experience, a theme park in Florida where actors portray Biblical parables including Jesus’s crucifixion. The decision to campaign at the park — and Cain’s rhetoric — comes as the campaign plays up his racial and religious identity in campaign literature being distributed in Iowa.

According the The Des Moines Register, the Cain campaign has released a seven-page mailer that argues that Cain will “lead the Republican party to victory by garnering a large share of the black vote, something that has not been done since Dwight Eisenhower garnered 41 percent of the black vote in 1956” because he is “a descendent [sic] of slaves.”

Cain’s racially and religiously charged statements have so far not been an issue for the campaign, but the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO is facing increased scrutiny after a rapid rise to the top of the Republican field, followed by a precipitous fall as allegations surfaced of sexual harassment by four former employees of the restaurant association he used to head.

In a CNN/ORC poll released Monday, Cain had slipped into third place, trailing Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.