Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, in an exclusive interview on Newsmax TV, declared his support for pausing the admission of Syrian refugees into the U.S.
The former Florida governor told J.D. Hayworth in an in-depth interview on "Newsmax Prime" that he supports GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan’s call for a pause in the White House program of admitting Syrian refugees.
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"Look, when I was governor we had refugees that came to our shores, Haitian refugees and others, and as a noble nation, a generous nation, we let them come in — because had they not come in, there would've been huge consequences for them in their country when there was civil unrest," he said.
"But we didn't believe nor were there Islamic terrorists in their midst that were embedded to try to come into the country to try to do harm. This is a unique circumstance that we need to make sure that there's proper vetting."
Bush also ripped into President Barack Obama for failing to concede that he has erred in his response to the rising global terror threat and on how best to deal with the international refugee crisis.
"And anybody that disagrees with him he demonizes," Bush said Thursday "He demonized me and others to suggest that the refugee issue there needs to have proper screening and that Christians that are being persecuted might be different than others that haven't been screened," Bush said.
"Look, we're a noble country. We do support people that are refugees, uprooted and need the assistance of the world, the global community for sure.
"But he's got to recognize he created this crisis and he and [former secretary of state and Democratic presidential front-runner] Hillary Clinton have not recognized that American leadership in the world is vital, that we have to stand on principle to protect ourselves."
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