Public Comment

President Biden should have heeded candidate Biden who vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for the state-sponsored killing of The Washington Post columnist, Jamāl Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018. 

So, once a pariah now a buddy! 

Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, to meet Mohammed Bin Salman MBS, was best encapsulated by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who wrote on social media “Biden’s visit underscores the United States’ dependency on oil from Middle Eastern nations. If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continuing grip oil-rich autocrats have on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today. One fist bump is worth a thousand words.”  

Biden’s claim that he held MBS responsible for Khashoggi’s murder was later contradicted by a top Saudi official.  

“Democracy for an Arab World (DAWN)’s, executive director, Sarah Leah Whitson, was outraged over Biden’s friendly fist bump stating “Biden’s legacy is a a man who broke his promises” on holding Saudi Arabia accountable for mass murder and sends a troubling message to other wealthy oil-producing countries. “ 

The publisher of The Washington Post, Fred Ryan, equally critical of Biden visit, saying, “the fist-bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful. It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”