Nikki Haley clashes with NBC host over Biden admin response to deadly terror attacks
2024 GOP candidate Nikki Haley clashed with 'Meet the Press' host Kristen Welker over whether the Biden administration's deal with Iran helped fund the terrorist attack against Israel.
Republican presidential candidate and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley didn't mince words during a heated exchange with NBC host Kristen Welker on Sunday's "Meet the Press," over whether the Biden administration's recent deal with Iran fueled its terrorist attack against Israel.
On Saturday, Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented, coordinated attack against Israel, firing thousands of rockets and slaughtering Israelis near the Gaza Strip. At least 800 Israelis have been killed and thousands more wounded, as of Monday morning. Israel has declared war in response.
Republicans in Congress partly blamed the Biden White House for the terror attack, pointing to the administration striking a deal with Iran last month to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for freeing five imprisoned Americans. While Haley was on "Meet the Press," Welker asked the Republican if these accusations were "irresponsible."
"You just saw the Secretary of State effectively say there is no link between that deal and the horrific attacks that unfolded yesterday. Do you think it was irresponsible of your rivals to level that allegation without any evidence or proof?" the NBC host pressed.
Nikki Haley clashed with NBC News over the Biden administration releasing billions in sanctions to Iran leading up to Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. The U.S. has said there is no link and Iran has denied any role in the attack. (NBC News/Screenshot)
The former diplomat and 2024 GOP candidate claimed the Biden administration wasn't being honest with how Iran viewed these funds.
"I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn't weigh in here," Haley rebutted. "I mean, let's be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows– they're moving money around as we speak– because they know $6 billion is going to be released. That's the reality."
Haley said that during her time as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration, she witnessed the results of the Obama administration's $400 million cash payment to Iran, claiming those funds were sent to terrorist groups.
"When I was at the United Nations you saw that when those planes full of cash sent by Obama to Iran, I went to the International Atomic Energy Agency, I met with them. What happened was those funds were sent to Hezbollah and Lebanon. They were sent to Hamas and Gaza. They were sent to the Houthis in Yemen. They go and spread terrorism every time they get a dollar," she argued.
"It doesn't go to the Iranian people, it does go to terrorist attacks, and Secretary Blinken’s just wrong to imply that this money is not being moved around as we speak to hurt those who love freedom," she said.
ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS AFTER SURPRISE ATTACKS, AT LEAST 800 ISRAELIS DEAD
October 8, 2023. Israeli air attacks on Gaza continue. Flames and smoke rose from the area as a result of the attack on the Gaza. (Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Welker cut in to reiterate there was currently "no proof" to back up the GOP claims. She again asked Haley if it was fair to be leveling these charges against President Biden.
"Is it irresponsible to level that charge when you really don't have any evidence of that at this point in time?" she pressed Haley.
Haley argued the evidence of how Iran would use this money was plain to see.
"[L]ook at what the Iranian people have done to freedom-loving people around the world. Look at what the Iranian people, the Iranian regime, has done to threaten Israel over the years. To think that they're not moving money around is irresponsible to say that to the American people. They are moving money around to threaten those they hate. They hate Israel. They hate America. They are going to continue to use this. It was wrong to release the $6 billion," she insisted.
Haley also used the opportunity to blast Biden's bungling of "that debacle in Afghanistan," and waiving of sanctions on Iran as other examples of the administration helping money "flow to Iran."
"Money has been flowing to Iran and that is the problem because when Iran gets money they use it for hate," she said.
President Joe Biden speaks on the terrorist attacks in Israel alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken from the State Dining Room at the White House on October 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Earlier in the program, Welker confronted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with these criticisms from Republicans. He claimed Republicans were spreading "misinformation" and "playing politics" amidst the deadly attacks, and he said the funds were not from U.S. taxpayer dollars but were "Iranian resources that had accumulated from the sale of its oil, that were stuck in a bank in South Korea."
The Biden administration has insisted these funds were reserved for humanitarian purposes and that none of the money has been spent yet.
Israeli officials said at least 800 people have been killed since Hamas terrorists started firing rockets and slaughtering Israelis near the Gaza Strip, making the conflict one of the deadliest attacks in the country's history. At least 2,000 people have been wounded. Hamas has been the governing authority in the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was "at war" and promised that the attackers would pay "an unprecedented price."
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The U.S. has said it hasn't seen direct evidence Iran was behind the terrorist attacks. Iran has said it played no role in the assault, but it has provided funding to Hamas and is considered the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
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Fox News' Brooke Singman and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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