Republican debate: Bobby Jindal hints that Christians like Kim Davis are more at risk than American Muslims like Ahmed Mohamed

'Right now, the biggest discrimination is against Christian business owners and individuals who believe in traditional forms of marriage'

Bobby Jindal said Christians were the most discrimated against group in the States (Getty Images)

If two stories were dominating America's news agenda on Wednesday they were the GOP debate in California and the arrest of a Muslim teen from Texas who took a home-made clock to school.

In CNN's first 'kids table' debate the two collided, when the four Republican candidates were asked how America could handle the compromise between discrimination and excercising vigilance in the face of Islamic extremism.

However, in a not-too-subtle allusion to Kim Davis, the Kentucky court clerk jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licences, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said: "Right now, the biggest discrimination is against Christian business owners and individuals who believe in traditional forms of marriage."

Follow the latest from the debate on our live blog

He added: "America did not create religious liberty. Religious liberty created the United States of America."

George Pataki, the former Governor of New York, took a different view, saying Ms Davis should have been sacked for refusing to issue the licences.

"You have to uphold the rule of law," he said.

Ms Davis returned to work earlier this week after her time in prison, saying she would still refuse to issue the licences, but would not stand in the way of her deputies doing so.

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, described earlier how he felt he had "lost his innocence" after police handcuffed him at school for bringing in a clock he made for a home science project.

President Obama later tweeted Ahmed, inviting him to the White House, saying: "We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great."