Democrat President Joe Biden has put on a public display of support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite previously bashing Saudi Arabia’s leadership.
During the 2020 election campaign trail, Biden blasted Saudi Arabia as a “pariah state.”
However, during his Middle East trip to ask foreign nations for help solving his energy crisis, Biden folded in front of the world’s media to fist bump with Saudi leader MBS before they had a private meeting
“We were going to in fact make Saudi Arabia pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are,” Biden said in a 2019 debate.
President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fired back at Biden over the flip-flop.
“President Biden said he would make the kingdom of Saudi Arabia a pariah state,” Pompeo said.
“That was an enormous mistake.
“But let’s look at the facts.
“They are an important security partner for the United States.
“There’s only one country in that whole region that wants to threaten the United States of America and Israel and wipe us from the face of the earth.
“That’s the leadership in Iran and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s been an important partner in helping protect us from that threat.
“The transformations that have taken place in Saudi Arabia, we can all argue about the pace and the speed with which they’ve taken place, but it disbanded police forces that threatened women” and that the “crown prince has made life better for all the Saudi people, including females there.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will “reinforce the United States’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security and prosperity and attend a Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan.
“He will also meet with counterparts from across the region, to advance U.S. security, economic, and diplomatic interests,” she said.
Fist bump between President Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/37Oz5EwwIB
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 15, 2022
The Saudi government is quick to post photos of the fist bump between Biden and MBS https://t.co/yc3fkGK2xI
— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) July 15, 2022
Yes, it’s a fist bump rather than a handshake. BUT Biden still fist-bumped the man who ordered the murder — and bone-saw dismemberment — of a U.S. journalist, after refusing to say if he would directly confront MBS on Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. https://t.co/iq9akq8Spy
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) July 15, 2022
