Hillary Clinton said Republicans hit a “new low” with their “hateful rhetoric” about Syrian refugees after the Paris attack.
Last week’s terrorism in France has made many Republicans unwilling to accept more Syrian refugees until the screening process is toughened, for fear of admitting supporters of radical Islam.
“We’ve seen a lot of hateful rhetoric from the GOP. But the idea that we’d turn away refugees because of religion is a new low,” Clinton tweeted in response.
We’ve seen a lot of hateful rhetoric from the GOP. But the idea that we’d turn away refugees because of religion is a new low. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 17, 2015
Since the terrorist attacks on Friday more than half of the nation’s governors have said that they would not accept any refugees for fear of increasing the risk of terrorism in their states. Several GOP presidential candidates have expressed similar concerns.
During the second Democratic debate on Saturday night, Clinton told voters that the U.S. should increase the number of refugees it will accept from 10,000 to 65,000 “but only if we have as careful a screening and vetting process as we can imagine, whatever resources it takes.” Fellow Democratic candidates agreed, saying that in the wake of these attacks the U.S. government should not turn a blind eye to innocent Syrian Muslim refugees.
“The resurgence of Islamic extremism is a direct consequence of the failed foreign policy Hillary Clinton helped fashion as President Obama’s secretary of state,” RNC spokesperson Michael Short said in a statement, citing Clinton’s support for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. “A Clinton presidency would only mean more of the same.”
