Topline A White House spokesperson told Forbes on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s reaction to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war—which has killed at least 1,400 Israelis and at least 3,000 Palestinians—was “revolting and dangerous.”
The White House called former President Donald Trump’s comments calling for an expanded travel ban … [+] to include Gaza amid the Hamas-Israel war „revolting and dangerous.“ (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
GC Images Key Facts On Monday, Trump called for a reimplemented and expanded travel ban that would include Gaza, saying at an Iowa campaign event that “we aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security,” CBS reported.
Trump also said, if elected to a second term, he would conduct “ideological screening” for immigrants and prevent Hamas sympathizers and Muslim extremists from entering the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement to Forbes in response to Trump’s comments that “it is revolting and dangerous to tear people apart right now with cruel poison that undermines our basic values as Americans.”
Bates said this is a time “when all leaders need to come together against hate; against Islamophobia, against antisemitism,” and that the “hateful Muslim travel ban” instituted by Trump violated the right to religious freedom.
Since the war began on October 7, Trump has been criticized for saying things like the attack on Israel wouldn’t have happened if he were in the White House and that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is “very smart.”
Contra Bates also said there is already “strict national security vetting” in place that works “to determine whether individuals coming from anywhere in the world have ties to terrorist organizations.”
Chief Critic In a statement to NBC News, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Biden’s team was “incorrect to call it a Muslim ban” and doing so showed “how stupid the Biden people are.”
Tangent Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also said the U.S. “cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” claiming refugees fleeing “are all antisemitic.” Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley also said “we shouldn’t take any Gazan (or Syrian) refugees into the U.S.,” and that she believes countries “in the region should take them.”
Big Number 56. That’s how many Palestinian refugees entered the U.S. in fiscal year 2023, according to State Department data obtained by CBS. In the previous fiscal year, just 16 Palestinian refugees entered the country.
Key Background Trump has been campaigning on the idea of reinstating the travel ban he campaigned on during his first election, NBC News reported. When he was in office, Trump tried to pass an executive order similar to “a total and complete shutdown” of Muslims coming into the country, according to the Associated Press, but it was limited to five countries with a Muslim majority, North Korea and Venezuela after battling through the Supreme Court. Since the war began, Trump’s comments have faced criticism from his fellow Republican presidential candidates and the Biden Administration. Last week, Desantis said on social media that it was “absurd” Trump would “attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,’” after the former president criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The day the war began, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel earlier this month, Trump claimed “American taxpayer dollars helped fund” Hamas’ attacks—a baseless claim made without specifics. A White House spokesperson responded via X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the money Trump was presumably talking about—$6 billion in funds to Iran that were recently unfrozen—had “absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks … and this is not the time to spread disinformation.”
Further ReadingNBC NewsWhite House calls Trump’s Israel-Hamas war response ‚revolting and disgusting’MORE FROM FORBESWhite House Denies Trump’s Claims U.S. ‚Helped Fund‘ Hamas Attack On IsraelBy Brian BushardMORE FROM FORBESDeSantis Rips Trump’s ‚Absurd‘ Criticism Of Israel After Ex-President Calls Hezbollah ‚Very Smart’By Sara Dorn