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DeSantis refuses to back off demand that US not accept refugees from Palestine
Florida Gov. and GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis Sunday stuck to his stance that the U.S. should not accept refugees from Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
“Palestinian Arabs should go to Arab countries, the U.S. should not be absorbing any of those,” DeSantis said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.
The Florida governor’s remarks come after he sparked controversy with comments made on the campaign trail in Iowa Saturday, arguing to those in the audience that the refugees would be “antisemitic.”
HERO ISRAELI K-9 UNIT CREDITED WITH RESCUE OF OVER 200 CIVILIANS DURING HAMAS TERROR ATTACK
“I don’t know what Biden’s going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis said during the event. “If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.”
The comments came on the heels of Israel warning civilians in the Gaza Strip to evacuate ahead of a planned ground invasion of the region by the country’s defense forces in response to surprise attacks launched by Hamas on Israel last week.
The DeSantis comments elicited pushback from former Arkansas Gov. and fellow GOP hopeful Asa Hutchinson, who told reporters in New Hampshire that “it’s a danger any time that you categorize a group of people as being simply antisemitic,” according to a report from NBC News.
But Desantis later fired back at critics, arguing they had their “head in the sand” when it came to the realities in Gaza.
CASUALTIES, KIDNAPPED AND MORE NUMBERS SINCE HAMAS’ ATTACK ON ISRAEL
“I will challenge anyone to say that in some of these countries that virulent antisemitism is not the norm,” DeSantis said, according to the NBC News report, adding that “if you’re not willing to acknowledge that, then you’ve got your head in the sand.”
DeSantis continued to defend his remarks during his Sunday interview, telling “Face the Nation” Hamas has helped form a “toxic culture” in the Gaza Strip.
“They elected Hamas, let’s just be clear about that. Not everyone’s a member of Hamas, most probably aren’t, but they did elect Hamas in 2006,” DeSantis said. “This has been an issue for a long time. They teach kids to hate Jews, the textbooks do not have Israel even on the map. They prepare very young kids to commit terrorist attacks. So I think it’s a toxic culture and I think if we were to import large numbers of those to the United States… it would increase antisemitism in this country and I think it would increase anti-Americanism.”
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Sullivan says no Americans have been able to leave Gaza
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that he knows of no American citizens who have been able to get out of Gaza as Israel prepares to mount a ground offensive in the region following a week of heavy bombardment by air.
“So far, we have not been able to get American citizens through the border crossing and I’m not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time, though I cannot fully confirm that because it’s a dynamic situation,” Sullivan told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“Like I said, we’re trying to create the circumstances where American citizens are in Gaza and are looking to lead to get into Egypt and ultimately to the United States or elsewhere, that they are able to so. We’re working on that as we speak,” he added.
Israel ordered 1 million people on Friday in Gaza to evacuate ahead of a possible ground operation — just days after militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented, deadly attack on the nation more than a week ago. The United Nations and humanitarian groups warned that trying to move such a large number of people with a 24-hour deadline would be disastrous.
The U.S. is trying to move Palestinian Americans through the Rafah crossing, which connects with northeast Egypt, according to several media reports. Sullivan did not confirm or deny whether the U.S. asked Israel to delay its ground operation so that civilians could flee.
“First, I’m not going to get into our private conversations with the Israelis, but we are not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific to their military planning,” he said.
Sullivan also could not confirm how many Americans, if any, have been killed inside Gaza so far, again reiterating that they are working on getting Americans out of the region through a passage in a border crossing with Egypt.
“It has been difficult to execute that operation to facilitate their passage out. We are continuing to work that, and President Biden has put a team on it around the clock because it’s a high priority for us to be able to get American citizens out of Gaza,” he said.
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Schumer, Romney shelter from Hamas rocket fire in Tel Aviv as US delegation meets with Israeli leaders
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday said he and other members of a bipartisan delegation of senators were forced to shelter in Tel Aviv after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets while the lawmakers prepared to meet with Israeli leaders.
Schumer, D-N.Y., posted a photo on X showing himself, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and others standing in a close-quarters shelter.
“While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas,” the majority leader wrote. “It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself.”
Schumer, the first Jewish Senate majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., led a bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Sens. Romney and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona.
IRAN THREATENS ISRAEL OVER LOOMING GROUND OFFENSIVE IN GAZA: REPORT
Schumer said the delegation was having “good, productive meetings” with Israeli leaders, which included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and senior opposition figure Benny Gantz, who is part of a newly formed wartime cabinet in Israel.
Discussions were expected to include what kind of support Israel needs for both military and humanitarian operations.
IRAN’S ARCH TERRORIST WAS ARCHITECT OF HAMAS MASSACRE OF 1,300 PEOPLE: REPORT
“I’ll lead the effort in the US Senate to provide Israel with the support required to defend itself from this monstrous attack,” Schumer wrote on X.
An Israeli ground assault on Gaza was looming on Sunday after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians, and took dozens of hostages back to Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted.
While negotiations are ongoing, Schumer earlier said he expects any spending package should include aid for Israel and Ukraine, along with possible aid for Taiwan as it faces threats from Beijing and money for the U.S. border.
Other high-ranking U.S. officials who have visited Israel in recent days included Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Haley blasts GOP House over speaker battle: ‘Get it together’
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at House Republicans amid the continued battle over the next speaker of the House, arguing the GOP infighting is bad for the country.
“They need to get it together,” Haley said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper. “They need to get in a room and figure out who this is going to be and come out unified.”
Haley’s comments come as Congress has been thrust into chaos after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., forced a vote that removed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position, which ignited a GOP battle over who will become the next speaker.
HOUSE OF CARDS: FIVE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS FOR ELECTING THE NEXT SPEAKER
Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was nominated by Republicans as their candidate. The vote has yet to move to the House floor.
Doubts continue to surround the feasibility of electing Jordan to the post after 55 Republicans indicated on a secret ballot that they would not vote for the Ohio lawmaker on the House floor if he were nominated for speaker. That would put Jordan well short of the 217 Republican votes needed for Jordan to get over the top and win the speakership on the House floor.
Democrats, meanwhile, have taken advantage of the GOP infighting, ridiculing Republicans while pushing an effort to elect a more moderate or even Democrat to the top House post.
MCCARTHY BACKS JIM JORDAN FOR SPEAKER AMID AUSTIN SCOTT CHALLENGE
During her interview with CNN, Haley also said Democrats have plunged the country into chaos, citing inflation, the border, and multiple wars around the world. The GOP hopeful said that Republicans won’t be able to do the work of getting the country back on track if they are divided.
“You can’t fix Democrat chaos with Republican chaos,” Haley said while calling on the GOP House to unify around one candidate.
“That’s what Republicans need to do,” Haley said. “This is not a good look.”
Haley pointed to events going on around the world, including the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, arguing that the infighting between Republicans has helped contribute to a “distracted” America and made the world a more dangerous place.
“We saw what happened to Israel when they were distracted,” Haley said. “America looks so distracted right now. When America’s distracted the world is less safe.”
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Kirby: I Won’t Rule ‘In or Out’ if U.S. Troops Will Help Free American Hostages in Israel-Hamas War
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Netanyahu: ‘Hamas Thought It Would Break Us, But We Will Break Hamas’
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President’s re-election team crows that Biden outraised Trump, DeSantis and Haley
Though President Biden’s approval ratings with Americans are underwater, his re-election campaign’s fundraising is still going strong.
The president and Vice President Kamala Harris hauled in more than $71 million in the July-September third quarter of 2023 fundraising, their 2024 re-election team announced on Sunday.
The campaigns spotlighted that they had nearly $91 million in their campaign coffers at the end of September, which they touted is “the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle.”
The president’s re-election campaign also said their fundraising the past three months “is significantly more than any of the GOP 2024 campaigns, and the team’s cash-on-hand is widely expected to be more than the entire GOP field combined.”
CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POLLING
Presidential candidates, as well as those running in Senate and House races, have until the end of Sunday to file their third quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. But some campaigns have already announced their most recent fundraising hauls.
HERE’S HOW MUCH TRUMP SAYS HE RAISED THE PAST THREE MONTHS
Former President Donald Trump — the commanding front-runner for the Republican Presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run — announced earlier this month that he hauled in $46 million the past three months, with $38 million cash-on-hand.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reported $15 million raised, with $14 million in his campaign coffers. And former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced $11 million raised and $12 million cash-on-hand.
The president’s campaign showcased that their fundraising the past three months — which was roughly equivalent to the $72 million hauled in during the second quarter — demonstrates “continued strong support and enthusiasm for the President and Vice President’s reelection campaign.”
The money was raised by the Biden-Harris re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and state parties participating in a join-fundraising committee formed when the president launched his re-election campaign in late April.
The campaign touted their “strategic approach to fundraising,” which allows them “to maximize available resources for President Biden and Vice President Harris’ reelection, with an equally strategic approach to spending.”
Because individual donors can contribute larger sums to national party committees, such as the DNC, than to individual presidential campaigns is a contributing factor for Biden vastly out raising his Republican challengers.
The Biden re-election campaign also spotlighted their grassroots appeal, noting that the small dollar donations increased from 34% of their overall haul in the second quarter to 49% of their overall revenue the past three months.
They also noted that they brought in nearly a quarter of million new donors who didn’t contribute to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign.
“We are especially proud of our efforts to exponentially grow our grassroots donor base, now having over a hundred thousand Americans signed up to donate on a recurring basis from now until Election Day,” Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement to Fox News. “These numbers are a testament to one of our core objectives early in this campaign: raise the resources needed to run an aggressive campaign that will win in November 2024.”
Fundraising, along with polling, is a key metric in determining a candidate’s strength and grassroots appeal. Fundraising dollars can be used to build up candidate’s campaign structure, grassroots outreach, and get out the vote efforts, and to pay for travel and ads.
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FBI Director Chris Wray warns of spike in reported domestic threats linked to Israel’s war against Hamas
FBI Director Chris Wray warned during a speech in California Saturday of a spike in domestic threats linked to Israel’s war against Hamas militants.
“I want to take a moment to offer my heartfelt condolences to the people of Israel, and share the outrage I know we all feel at the sheer brutality and disregard for innocent lives there,” Wray said during prepared remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in San Diego.
“History has been witness to antisemitic and other forms of violent extremism for far too long. Whether that be from foreign terrorist organizations, or those inspired by them, or domestic violent extremists motivated by their own racial animus, the targeting of a community because of their faith is completely unacceptable,” Wray continued. “We remain committed to continue confronting those threats—both here in the United States and overseas.”
“In this heightened environment, there’s no question we’re seeing an increase in reported threats, and we have to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own,” he said. “And I’d encourage you to stay vigilant, because as the first line of defense in protecting our communities, you’re often the first to see the signs that someone may be mobilizing to violence. And I’d also ask you to continue sharing any intelligence or observations you may have.”
NEW YORK CITY MAYOR SAYS ‘WE ARE NOT ALL RIGHT’ AFTER HAMAS MASSACRED ISRAELIS
“On our end, we’re committed to doing the same, so that together, we can safeguard our communities,” Wray said.
The warning came a day after major U.S. cities, including New York, were on heightened security and increased police presence Friday amid concern over demonstrations related to the conflict. A former Hamas leader had also called for Muslims around the world to take to the streets in support of Palestinians and consider Oct. 13 a “Day of Jihad.”
In its last statement issued Oct. 9 on the Hamas attacks in Israel, the FBI said it “does not have specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States.”
“We are closely monitoring unfolding events and will share relevant information with our state, local, federal and international law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security partners to ensure they are prepared for any impacts to public safety. We will not hesitate to adjust our security posture, as appropriate, to protect the American people,” the bureau said.
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“We are closely coordinating with our counterparts in the region as well as other international partners,” the statement continued. “Through our Legal Attaché office in Israel, FBI personnel are working with our partners on the ground to locate and identify any impacted Americans. Reports of deceased, injured, or unaccounted for Americans are being treated with the utmost urgency and aggressively investigated. The FBI’s Victim Services Division is coordinating with the Department of State to assist, as necessary, with family engagement.”
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