Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has trashed Joe Biden today after the president met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite pledging to treat Saudi Arabia’s new ruler as a “pariah.”
Biden met with MBS to ask for help solving America’s energy crisis, despite refusing to tap U.S. domestic resources.
However, as he met with Mohammed bin Salman to ask for more oil, the Democrat president provoked widespread outrage by fist-bumping with the “pariah” and posing for photos.
Adam Schiff was not happy and said: “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.”
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.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 15, 2022
The widow of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by Salman’s regime, joined the chorus of condemnation against Biden’s actions.
Hatice Cengiz said Biden’s cave was a betrayal, posting on social media: “What Jamal Khashoggi would tweet today: ‘The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.’”
What Jamal Khashoggi would tweet today: pic.twitter.com/Gv4Up7TLgd
— Hatice Cengiz خديجة (@mercan_resifi) July 15, 2022
Biden was asked about the widow during a press conference and he said awkwardly:
“I’m sorry she feels that way.
“I was straightforward back then, I was straightforward today.
“This is a meeting, what I, I didn’t come here to meet the crown prince.
“I came here to meet the GCC, the nine nations, to deal with the security and the needs of the free world, particularly the United States, and not leave a vacuum here, which was happening as it has in other parts of the world.”
The Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan called out Biden in a statement:
“The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake – it was shameful,” Ryan said.
“It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”
— Kristine Coratti Kelly (@kriscoratti) July 15, 2022
