Tim Scott comes out against US accepting Gaza refugees

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) became the latest 2024 hopeful to come out against the United States accepting Gaza refugees in the wake of the escalating war between Israel and Hamas.

“How do we make sure that our nation remains the greatest nation on God’s green Earth if we have no ability to discern who’s coming in our country?” Scott said at a Monday night event co-hosted by the Associated Press and Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.

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“If I can’t figure that out, as commander in chief, I have a responsibility to take a leap back and say, not on my watch. Our nation is just too important for me to make bad decisions under pressure because I want to be popular. That doesn’t work for me,” Scott added. “Not having any of the refugees come into our country is the right decision. And by the way, Iran has lots of room. They have lots of funds, and they have a lot of culpability.”

Scott’s comments come after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) challenged the GOP presidential field to reject Gaza refugees because they “are all antisemitic” over the weekend.

“If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic,” DeSantis said at a Saturday campaign event. “None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.”

The South Carolina senator, however, did not go so far as to call all refugees fleeing the Gaza Strip antisemitic. “I don’t think that they’re all antisemitic. I just can’t tell you who’s who,” he said.

Scott also pushed back against former President Donald Trump‘s critical comments against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called “terrible and not helpful.”

“We should be loyal to our allies while being lethal to our adversaries. Anything less than that jeopardizes life,” he said.

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The war started on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, which led to retaliatory airstrikes. More than 4,000 people are dead, making this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars.

Scott has been critical of President Joe Biden’s prisoner exchange deal with Iran, particularly the $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets the U.S. sent to Qatar. He has called for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to testify before the Senate banking committee, of which he is the ranking member.