DeSantis PAC Blasts Haley’s ‘Sympathetic’ Remarks on Gaza Refugees in Major TV Ad

The war in Gaza is now the subject of the first TV attack ad of the Republican presidential primary.

In a new 30-second commercial, the super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is highlighting his calls to ban any refugees from Gaza, and it’s contrasting his remarks with a more nuanced approach voiced by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley over the weekend.

“We should care about the Palestinian citizens,” Haley told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “America has always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists.”

But in a Republican primary that’s staunchly pro-Israel and increasingly critical of Palestinians, Haley’s comments instantly put her on the defensive from conservative pundits, DeSantis and his super PAC, Never Back Down.

In the Never Back Down super PAC ad, Haley’s “sympathetic” remarks are bracketed by DeSantis’s hardline position he first laid out Saturday in Iowa. After playing Haley’s quote, the ad transitions to DeSantis bashing her in an NBC interview on Sunday evening.

“She’s trying to be politically correct. She's trying to please the media and people on the left. I don't care about that,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you this as president the number of people we will bring in from Gaza is zero. We are not going to do that.”

The ad is scheduled to run Tuesday evening as part of a $2 million ad buy on Iowa and New Hampshire broadcast TV, and it’s also running nationally on Fox and Newsmax. Never Back Down is also advertising a similar spot on streaming services that features more criticism of Haley from conservative pundits.

The fallout from the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza has become a top issue in the presidential race as the Republicans have drawn a parallel between the attacks and U.S. immigration and foreign policy.

DeSantis was the first to call for no Gazan refugees to come to the United States, a position the other Republicans later echoed, including Haley, who has risen in polls against DeSantis and is challenging him for second place in the crowded primary where former President Trump has commanding leads.

Soon after her initial remarks on CNN, Haley came under fire from conservatives Sunday, in part because Never Back Down accused her on the social media website X of arguing “in support of bringing Gaza refugees to America” – even though Haley didn’t specifically say that. One conservative commentator issued a correction on X.

After DeSantis echoed the attack and accused Haley of wanting to “import” refugees from Gaza, a Haley spokeswoman issued more denials and Haley on Tuesday appeared on Fox to push back.

“I’ve always said we shouldn’t take any Gazan refugees in the U.S. I said it when I was at the U.N. that we shouldn’t take Syrian refugees into the U.S. I believe that those in the region should take them,” Haley said.

“I said that about Syria then, that’s why Jordan and Turkey took them. The bulk of the refugees there and I think, honestly, the Hamas sympathizing countries should take these Gazans. Now, we’re talking about Qatar, we’re talking about Iran. We’re talking about Turkey. They should stay in the region. There is no reason for any refugees to come to America. And I, you know, my record is very clear on that.”

But in a counter to Haley’s counter, Never Back Down pointed out that Haley in 2015 opposed Donald Trump’s call some Muslims from entering the United States.

South Carolina governor at the time, Haley called Trump’s proposal “absolutely un-American” and “unconstitutional” and said that it “defies everything that this country was based on and it’s just wrong.” She also labeled Trump “an embarrassment” to the GOP. After he won the presidency, her appointed her to her ambassadorship.

Haley made her comments eight days after DeSantis, then a congressman, sponsored federal legislation to ban refugees from countries with terrorism problems: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Earlier that year, in 2015, Haley supported some refugees resettling in her state but, after a terrorist attack in Paris, Republican lawmakers worried about the threat of terrorism. She then asked the State Department to ensure no Syrians were sent to South Carolina because of the difficulty of vetting them, according to The State newspaper.