Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia was initially met with confusion and frustration from both sides of the aisle.
On one hand, Biden’s Middle East jaunt was considered a beggar’s trip for oil handouts as the U.S. undergoes a tragic gas price crisis, thanks to this administration’s energy policies. Conservatives grew frustrated over Biden’s willingness to beg a murderous Islamic regime for oil while simultaneously depleting U.S. energy production.
Conversely, liberals were perturbed with Biden due to his friendly demeanor with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) amid a series of human rights violations, which he vowed to speak out against while on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, the U.S. failed to find solutions to growing domestic problems that spurred Biden’s Middle East trip in the first place.
We aren’t any closer to solving our energy crisis, tensions in the Middle East are prevalent as ever, and the entire trip was rife with controversy and scandal from the jump — so what was the Biden administration actually trying to solve by sending such a decrepit, ineffectual leader?
The controversy began when Joe Biden was photographed fist-bumping MBS during his visit to the Kingdom last week despite previous pledges to treat Saudi Arabia like a “pariah” state.
Following the meeting with MBS, Biden claimed during a press conference that he “raised” Jamal Khashoggi’s murder “at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now.”
President Joe Biden said he raised the “outrageous” murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his meeting on Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who U.S. intelligence officials say ordered his killing. pic.twitter.com/WV496rCWIy
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 16, 2022
Biden later claimed that he told MBS that he “thought” MBS was responsible for the murder and that MBS denied those allegations and that MBS indicated all parties that were involved in the murder were brought to justice.
However, reports coming from the Kingdom are much different, and witnesses who were present for the meeting claim Biden never mentioned the journalist’s murder.
“I didn’t hear that particular phrase,” one top Saudi official said of Biden’s supposed statements on Khashoggi’s murder.
“I didn’t hear that particular phrase” – a senior Saudi official tells me regarding @POTUS telling the Crown Prince he’s responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. More from our interview to come… pic.twitter.com/uCfLSquiuE
— Alex Hogan (@AlexHoganTV) July 17, 2022
MBS also reportedly scolded Biden to his face about actions that he claims that the U.S. was responsible for that were similar to Khashoggi’s death.
“These are issues, mistakes that happen in any country, including the U.S.,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, told CNN.
Biden was pressed on the discrepancies between his retelling of events and the story told by Saudi officials by reporters — and let’s just say he didn’t react in the manner a President should.
President Biden, returning to WH, says Saudi FM not telling truth
Biden then chided reporter for asking about MBS fist bump, telling press to 'talk about something that matters'
He proceeded to say he's 'hoping' inflation will go down and 'working on' freeing pot inmates https://t.co/NRl6ccmgRI pic.twitter.com/xEUHDHu4MS
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 17, 2022
His frustration with reporters began while still in the Middle East after he received immense backlash after casually fist-bumping with the Saudi Prince.
NEW: During his trip to Saudi Arabia to beg for more oil, Joe Biden got visibly annoyed when asked about his fist bump with Crown Prince and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi: pic.twitter.com/9qH5DrmXPl
— Tea Party Patriots (@TPPatriots) July 15, 2022
Author: Nolan Sheridan
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