Two Republican candidates for the White House criticized President Joe Biden over a proposed $100 million aid package for the Gaza Strip. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) made the comments after Biden announced the potential aid to the area governed by the terrorist group Hamas.
DeSantis said during a Fox News interview that the White House was “wrong on the humanitarian aid to Hamas because Hamas is going to use that for terrorism.”
He further wrote on social media that there should be no American tax dollars going to Gaza. “Hamas is holding American hostages and Biden wants to fund them?”
DeSantis said, “it’s doubly problematic when they still are holding all these people hostages. So wait a minute. How is it humanitarian to be holding these people hostages? That should have been a precondition before they even discussed anything else.”
The Florida governor said that the president has a “responsibility to look after Americans, and that includes Americans overseas.” He said that he would “work closely with the Israelis” and would hope to recover all Americans held hostage by Hamas and related groups.
The former South Carolina governor said that there should be “no more money to countries that hate America.”
Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump said that she “stopped all U.S. taxpayer money going to the Palestinian refugees” during her tenure.
“This is something that I always said – the Arab countries, it was their responsibility, not the American taxpayer’s responsibility,” she told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Furthermore, DeSantis said that the United States “should not be absorbing any Gaza refugees. Neighboring Arab nations should open their borders and absorb them.”
He further called on each Republican candidate for president to “follow suit.”
I’ve been very clear: The U.S. should not be absorbing any Gaza refugees. Neighboring Arab nations should open their borders and absorb them.
Every Republican presidential candidate should follow suit. pic.twitter.com/0iQDsHptoG
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 15, 2023
The calls by the Republican candidates to block Palestinian refugees and potential aid to Gaza was also echoed by Trump.
The former president called the proposed funding “totally inappropriate.”
