Sen. Tim Scott, though lagging far behind former President Donald Trump, is still running for president in 2024, and so is engaging in the sort of media appearances the candidates make the rounds on, such as CNN. One such appearance turned explosive when Scott fought with CNN host Abby Phillip over Palestine and his support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
That fight came when Phillip, host of CNN NewsNight, pressed Sen. Scott over his opposition to millions of aid dollars that the Biden Administration is sending to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons, saying, “I want to ask you about $100 million aid that is being sent to Gaza. You’ve said recently that you oppose that.” Scott simply said, “Yes.”
That’s when she dug in a bit to what his opposition to the aid dollars means, asking, “I wonder, just putting aside some of the kind of political rhetoric around this, how is making life more miserable for Gazans something that helps Israel?”
Sen. Scott replied by doing his best to dodge the question, telling her, “Let’s take a look at how this thing started on October the 7th. We saw babies decapitated, we saw babies burned, we saw women raped, we saw grandmother’s taken, and Israel’s response is to make sure that never happens again. To provide complete and total support for Israel means giving them the resources and the flexibility they need to engage in conflict with Hamas.”
The two then began to fight, with Scott talking over Phillip and saying that he doesn’t want “a dime, a nickel, a penny ending up in the hands of Hamas,” while she argued that the aid is humanitarian in nature, saying, “I understand, but I’m talking about humanitarian— I’m talking about humanitarian aid, which Israel by the way has agreed to.”
She then pressed him even harder, asking, “I guess what I’m saying, Senator, is if Israel has agreed to allow $100 million of humanitarian aid into southern Gaza where they have asked for civilians to go to, why would you oppose that aid being provided?”
Scott again tried to dodge the question, telling Phillip that he doesn’t want terrorists to be funded by the US. In his words: “I believe that making sure that every penny that America spends anywhere does not end up in the hands of terrorist organizations is my responsibility.”
Phillip then put the question even more plainly, asking, “Do you think they ought to be fending for themselves?” Scott again dodged, telling her, “I’ll just say what I said earlier, not on the show. Israel has provided those residents living in Gaza an opportunity to leave the vulnerable areas. As a result of that, they find themselves in a position to get out of harm’s way. By doing that, we accelerate the path to victory for Israel, which then eliminates the need for a conflict.”
Watch their fight here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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