Rubio: Migrant Crisis Isn’t Just Europe’s Problem, ‘It Will Impact Us As Well’

Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio stated that Europe’s migrant crisis isn’t just Europe’s problem and “ultimately it will impact us as well, because it destabilizes our allies” in an interview broadcast on Thursday’s “On the Record” on the Fox News Channel.

Rubio said, “Well, first of all, we’ve allowed the Syrian situation to spiral out of control. I argued from the very beginning of that conflict that the US had a national security interest, primarily because of the rise of ISIS. We said that if there [weren’t] alternatives to Assad that we could work with, some radical jihadist group would emerge and become the most powerful force on the ground. I was issuing those warnings from the earliest days of that conflict. This administration did nothing. They moved slowly to arm and equip those groups. And as the moderate rebels were destroyed, and radical groups like ISIS and al-Nusra took hold. And now you have this crisis threatening Europe, with hundreds of thousands of people seeking refuge from the horrifying conflict that’s going on there. So, again, I mean, it’s not just solely the United States’ responsibility, but it most certainly is in our national security interest that parts of Europe are now being destabilized because of this migratory crisis. I think at this point, we find ourselves in the very difficult situation, that leads to a more concise strategy on how to defeat ISIS. As long as ISIS is there, and Assad remains in power, you’re going to continue to see this thing continue spiral out of control.”

Rubio was then asked, “is the US just to say this is Europe’s problem now?” He responded, “No, of course not. I mean, ultimately it will impact us as well, because it destabilizes our allies. Some of these countries that you’re now talking about are NATO allies of ours, who — are also being threatened by this. And by the way, in any humanitarian crisis it also creates the possibility, for example, of mayhem. Look, you have on the border with Jordan. And we even talked about that, but millions, –at least over a million refugees have now sought refuge within the borders of Jordan. I believe it’s now their largest, or second largest city. And it also becomes a prime target for ISIS try to infiltrate people into that camp, destabilizing yet another key ally of ours in the region. So, it is the United States’ issue, and it does confront us, and instability, whether it’s in Europe, or any other part of the world, ultimately has an impact on our national security interest.”

Rubio also discussed the RNC’s loyalty oath, saying he will support the Republican nominee. He concluded by talking about his energy policy, stating, “It says we’re going to fully utilize our energy resources. We are going to responsibly, but fully, utilize our oil, our natural gas, in addition to nuclear energy, and coal technologies, and everything else that’s available to us. Energy not only allows us to grow those industries it allows us to grow our economy, to be globally competitive. It’ll help bring manufacturing back to the United States, and create millions of jobs for Americans, both in energy, and in manufacturing. And geopolitically, it will create alternative, to a world being held captive by oil, often coming from anti-American regimes like in Tehran.”

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