Wife of GOP presidential hopeful shares Syrian refugee concerns with Horry County voters

Janet Huckabee held a breakfast in Pawleys Island on Thursday morning to talk about her husband’s presidential campaign and his plans for reforming the IRS, protecting Social Security and caring for the nation’s veterans.

But the group of mostly women voters gathered at the Applewood House of Pancakes were more interested in discussing the current plight of Syrian refugees, and whether federal policy allowing resettlement in the U.S. should be discontinued in light of the terrorist attacks in Paris and bombing of a Russian commercial airliner.

“Isn’t the defense of our country supposed to come first, or am I crazy?” asked Judy Clarke of Murrells Inlet.

Huckabee said the U.S. should offer the Syrian refugees assistance, but that those fleeing the war-torn country should be resettled closer to their home, and U.S. aid flown overseas to help them.

“I think we can have a humanitarian effort, we can help them, but we don’t have to help them here,” Huckabee said. “We hear the president say it’s not our war, then why does he think we should bring them here?”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is campaigning for the Republican nomination in Iowa while his wife is touring South Carolina this week in the hopes of locking up more voters in the early primary states. Although New Hampshire hosts the first election in the nation, Janet Huckabee said she and her husband won’t be spending a lot of time there.

“New Hampshire, those are not our people -- they just don’t think like we do. But we are campaigning hard in South Carolina and Iowa,” she said.

Mike Huckabee is polling well behind numerous contenders for the GOP nod, tying with South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for 2 percent each, according to the latest poll of South Carolina voters.

The Public Policy Polling numbers released Nov. 10 show Donald Trump leading the Republican field in South Carolina with 25 percent, followed by Ben Carson with 21 percent, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz with 15 percent, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio with 13 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 8 percent.

“If you look at the polls, you can’t believe anything you see,” Janet Huckabee said. “The summer blockbuster rarely wins the Oscar, so stop looking at that stuff.”

Audrey Hudson 843-444-1765

@AudreyHudson

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Wife of GOP presidential hopeful shares Syrian refugee concerns with Horry County voters."