Tim Scott criticizes pro-Palestine college groups | Greenville Politics – Charleston Post Courier

GREENVILLE — U.S. Sen. Tim Scott upped his critique of pro-Palestine student groups at colleges across the country while speaking with reporters after a brief event with veterans in Greenville.

Scott said his recent bill, which proposes pulling federal Pell grants from college campuses who host antisemitic student groups, is important to stand “firm and clear” against antisemitism.

“When you see them encouraging terrorism, and when you see them advocating for murder, I think that college campuses and universities should hold those kids accountable and get them off their campus for that language,” Scott said to reporters Oct. 25 as he continued to campaign in South Carolina for the Republican presidential nomination.

“Because you have your first amendment rights,” he said, “but you do not have the right to advocate for the murder of an entire race.”

The day before Scott filed his bill Oct. 18, four student groups at the University of South Carolina held a protest in support of Palestine outside the South Carolina Statehouse, the university’s student newspaper reported.

Scott’s bill also comes as Republican primary rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed two public Florida universities to disband pro-Palestine student groups Oct. 24, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Following a tour of the Ruper Huse Veteran Center, Scott also spoke about the recent election of U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the speaker of the House of Representatives, saying that the “good friend” of his will bring order back into the house.

“If we can get the chaos of the house out of the way, we reach an opportunity to get on the path to closing our southern border,” Scott said.

When asked by reporters whether he had any concerns about Johnson’s role in supporting former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results, Scott said he has no concerns with him as speaker.

Scott also mentioned Biden’s transferring of funds to Iran, which he says enabled Hamas in the attack on Israel that has killed thousands of Israelis and dozens of Americans.

Multiple Republicans have said that the administration’s recent hostage-release restored Iran’s access to $6 billion in frozen funds. Neither the White House or Israel has said there is a direct link between Iran and the Hamas attack, PolitiFact reports.

“Never think you can negotiate with a terrorist,” Scott said. “When you give terrorists what they want, they want more.”