“Not On My Watch”: Tim Scott Rejects Accepting Gaza Refugees, Calls Out Republicans Open To It

“Not On My Watch”: Tim Scott Rejects Accepting Gaza Refugees, Calls Out Republicans Open To It

“How do we make sure that our nation remains the greatest nation on the God’s green Earth if we have no ability to discern who’s coming in our country?” – Tim Scott 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today,Tim Scott joined a foreign policy and national security conversation hosted by Georgetown’s Institute of Politics and Public Service. During the discussion, Tim disagreed with other GOP presidential candidates who considered accepting Gaza refugees amidst Hamas’ ongoing terrorist attacks on Israel.

LISTEN HERE

Meg Kinnard: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday said the U.S. shouldn’t take in anyone from Gaza, calling them all anti-Semitic. What’s your reaction to those comments?

Tim Scott: Well, I don’t know that they’re all anti-Semitic without any question. They are Semites. But I don’t think that they’re all anti-Semitic. I just can’t tell you who’s who. And part of the challenge that we have from a refugee perspective is coming to a conclusion: who’s safe to bring in, who’s not safe to bring in? If you cannot make that decision, and I cannot make that decision as Commander-in-Chief, I would not be able to in the midst of this conflict. So I would say we’re not bringing anyone. No refugees in from Gaza, period. I think that’s the right decision, not because I think they’re all anti-Semitic, but I can’t tell the difference. And I do know that the majority of the Palestinians support Hamas based on all the latest polling that I’ve seen since 2021. So the truth is, if I can’t figure out who you are, you can’t come in the country. There are other candidates, Nikki Haley has come to a different decision than Ron DeSantis. She believes that it’s permissible, it appears, to allow folks in. That’s a moderate part of the Republican Party.

Meg Kinnard: No, she said that there is a way to ascertain.

Tim Scott: Yeah. How?

Meg Kinnard: That’s what she said.

Tim Scott: Yeah. I just wanna know how? … So the truth of the matter is that when you think about these policy positions, the one thing we have to ask ourselves is how does this impact everyday Americans? 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? I can’t figure that out. 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. And the best thing we can do as we say it in the South, is hold up, hold up, hold up until we get it right. And in my opinion, you can’t get there from here. Therefore, 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. Other countries can handle in the Middle East the challenges that we’re seeing.

Meg Kinnard: Okay. So essentially for this point in time, that’s not something that the U.S. should be, in your perspective as Commander-in-Chief, the U.S. shouldn’t be involved with anybody from the region?

Tim Scott: Correct. From a refugee standpoint, correct. Correct.

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