Chris Christie said that because he lacks the confidence in the Obama Administration’s vetting ability, he would not allow any Syrian refugees into America — not even “orphans under the age of five.”
Appearing on The Hugh Hewitt Show on Monday, Christie said, “The fact is, that we need for appropriate vetting and I don’t think orphans under five should be admitted into the United States at this point.” (RELATED: Growing List Of Governors Say They Won’t Accept Syrian Refugees)
It is “shameful” that Obama doesn’t understand the president’s first job is to “protect the safety and the security of the American people,” said Christie.
Later Christie said Obama and Hillary Clinton don’t understand how to protect the American homeland, suggesting they have “missed that by not having a strategy on ISIS, by calling them the ‘JV,’ they missed that by the hamstringing of the National Security Agency, and what they have participated in to weaken and demoralize our intelligence community and now, believe me, there will be someone else to blame if there is an attack on American soil.”
Regarding admitting Syrian refugees into the United States, Christie said, “I do not trust this administration to effectively vet the people who are proposed to be coming in. In order to protect the safety and security of the America people, so I would not permit them in.”
Hewitt then asked, “What if they were orphans under the age of five?”
Christie responded, “You know Hugh, we could come up with eighteen different scenarios. The fact is, that we need for appropriate vetting and I don’t think orphans under five should be admitted into the United States at this point.”
“You know, they have no family here. How are we going to care for these folks? The fact is, you could come up with a number of different scenarios Hugh,” explained Christie. “But in the end, I don’t trust this administration to affectively vet the people that they are asking us to take in. We need to put the safety and security of the American people first.”
While Christie did not explicitly say he would not allow Syrian refugees into New Jersey, he said he would “not permit them in” America.
Other governors have spoken out against allowing Syrian refugees from entering their states. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Gov.-Elect Matt Bevin of Kentucky and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey have all come out against accepting Syrian refugees.
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