Recently, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called out Secretary of State Antony Blinken after he claimed there was no correlation between the Hamas attack on Israel and the United States’ foreign policy toward Iran. The U.S. released $6 billion in frozen funds to Iran as a part of a prisoner swap.
According to Blinken, the U.S. has “yet to see the evidence” that Iran supported the attack on Israel following the multi-billion release of funds. Haley sat down with MSNBC’s “Meet the Press,” where the Republican challenger labeled Blinken’s comments as “irresponsible.”
“I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn’t weigh in here,” Haley told NBC. “I mean, let’s be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows they’re moving money around as we speak because they know $6 billion is going to be released. That’s the reality.”
Blinken responded to similar criticisms from Republicans who suggested the Biden administration’s deal to unfreeze the funds in the prisoner swap. The Secretary of State claimed the accusations were the result of “playing politics.”
“It’s very unfortunate that some are playing politics at a time when so many lives have been lost and Israel remains under attack,” Blinken said, claiming that the billions in funds from the account could only be used for medical supplies, food, and medicine.
Haley hit back, emphasizing how irresponsible it is to think the unfrozen funds could not be used for nefarious purposes. Haley cited Iran’s supposed hatred of Israel and the U.S., doubling down that it was the wrong decision to release the money.
“To think that they’re not moving money around is irresponsible,” Haley said. “They hate Israel. They hate America. They are going to continue to use this. It was wrong to release the $6 billion.”
Haley went on to criticize further aspects of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, calling out the Afghanistan withdrawal that had disastrous consequences. She further criticized the waiving sanctions on Iran, reaffirming that the country would enact “hate.”
“It was wrong to go and have that debacle in Afghanistan,” she continued. “It was wrong to waive sanctions on Iran that gave them even more money. Money has been flowing to Iran, and that is the problem, because when Iran gets money, they use it for hate.”
The Hamas attack on Israel has been labeled one of the deadliest in decades, leaving hundreds dead and wounding many more. The American Tribune reported on the “reprehensive and repulsive” comments from some Democrats regarding the attack.
For example, Rashida Tlaib took the crisis as an opportunity to criticize Israel as an “apartheid system.” She stated, “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity.”
Tlaib continued, “The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikki_Haley_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg
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