President Joe Biden is facing a lot of backlash following his interaction with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman where the two men shared a fist bump.
U.S. intelligence states bin Salman ordered the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Chris Coons for his defense of Biden for his exchange.
“So, senator, first of all, Joe Biden, when he was running for president, he said he was going to turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah nation, ok? He said he was going to turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah nation,” Tapper said, per Mediaite.
Furthermore, Tapper stated that Americans were disgusted by the photo that surfaced of the two men fist bumping and disrespecting the memory of Khashoggi.
“He flew to Saudi Arabia, and he fist-bumped Mohammed bin Salman, the man responsible, according to Biden’s own director of national intelligence, for ordering a brutal murder of a Washington Post journalist, killing him and then dismembering him with a bone saw. I mean, that fist bump photograph, I think a lot of Americans saw that and were revolted by it.”
Coons replied by shifting to Ukraine and stated that the U.S. needed to repair ties with the Saudis to “replace Russian oil and gas in the coming months” and that Biden “made a tough choice.”
Tapper wrapped up the segment by reading and asking Coons to respond to a tweet from Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who stated Khashoggi would have tweeted, “Hey @POTUS, Is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.”
“What do you say to her?” Tapper asked.
“I hope I have a chance to talk with her directly,” Coons answered before regurgitating that Biden had made “a hard choice” but is attempting “to sustain his commitment to human rights.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
