WASHINGTON — (CNN) Sen. Marco Rubio struck a compassionate tone when he was questioned about the refugee crisis currently playing out across Europe, saying he’s open to allowing some of those who are fleeing into the U.S.
During a town hall Monday night in North Charleston, Rubio answered a question from CNN about how he would handle the current exodus of mostly Syrian refugees flooding out of the Middle East and into Europe.
“First of all, ultimately the blame belongs to ISIS and all the other radical groups who are destabilizing the region,” he said. Rubio said that as a senator he’s been warning of this type of deterioration in the region for the past two and a half to three years since the Assad regime turned on its own people.
But then Rubio’s answer shifted towards a more inclusive approach to the situation, pointedly saying that under a Rubio administration, “We would be potentially open to the relocation of some of these individuals at some point in time to the United States.”
Rubio isn’t the only 2016er talking about refugees. When asked about whether he’d accept refugees real estate mogul Donald Trump said last week, he’d “possibly” let them into the country.
Last Thursday, Rubio told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, “This administration did nothing. They moved very slowly to arm and equip those groups, and as a result the moderate rebels were destroyed.”
His tone was decidedly more compassionate, however, Monday. The son of immigrants, Rubio proudly recounts his family’s ascent into the middle class, routinely calling it the American dream.
He followed that comment by saying he worries about some of these refugees may have ulterior motives. “We’d always be concerned that within the overwhelming number of the people seeking refugee, someone with a terrorist background could also sneak in.”
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