Tim Scott says Clinton would continue weak foreign policy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Tim Scott warned a national gathering of conservatives Thursday that, if elected president, Hillary Clinton would continue the same foreign policies pursued by President Obama.

But his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference didn't mention the internal GOP debate over which presidential candidate is best suited to run against Clinton.

Scott, R-S.C., has endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, but his speech to CPAC focused on Obama’s record on Iran, North Korea, Russia and terrorism.

“We simply cannot afford four more years of Obama-style foreign policy led by Hillary Clinton,” Scott said.

As Scott spoke at CPAC just outside Washington, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was in Utah urging the party not to nominate GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina says Rubio is the GOP's "one shot" to beat Clinton

Scott said he avoided talking about the 2016 drama because Rubio himself is speaking to CPAC on Saturday.

“For me it was more about South Carolina and the nation and not about Marco,” Scott said afterward. “Other than the fact that what we’ve seen in the past is not what we want in the future.”

Clinton won seven states on Super Tuesday compared to four for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, also running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Republicans planning for the November general election now consider her the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Republicans are eager to link Clinton, who was secretary of state during Obama’s first four years in office, to what they say are foreign policy failures that threaten national security.

“It used to be that an American president would travel to other nations and demand that walls come down and freedom be expanded,” Scott said, citing former President Ronald Reagan’s call for the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. “Do we really think that when Obama visits Havana that political prisoners will be released? No.”

Scott was also critical of the nuclear deal with Iran that lifted economic sanctions in exchange for restrictions on the country's nuclear program.

"Do we think that by giving $100 billion to Iran that they’re going to stop working on a nuclear weapon? No,” Scott said.

In a speech in September, Clinton called the accord imperfect but strong.

“It accomplishes the major goals we set out to achieve. It blocks every pathway for Iran to get a bomb and gives us better tools for verification and inspections to compel rigorous compliance,” she said in announcing her support for the deal.

Clinton also has supported Obama’s plans to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Scott opposes the closure because it could result in moving some terrorist detainees to a military facility outside Charleston.

Tim Scott opposes plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison

“It would take a couple hundred million dollars to upgrade it,” Scott said of the facility. “It is just a few miles from more than a dozen schools, half a dozen churches.”

Congress has passed a law barring the use of federal funds to close Guantanamo Bay or to transfer detainees to U.S. prisons. Scott promised to "use every weapon in our arsenal" to keep it open.

Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com