President Joe Biden is receiving criticism from all sides of the political aisle for his embarrassing fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, often known as MBS, as he was groveling to get the Middle Eastern country to significantly raise its oil output.
In a knowing demonstration of how humiliating the US president’s kowtowing to the Saudis was, MBS grinned during bilateral meetings on Friday.
Is Saudi Arabia still a pariah, Mr. President Biden? ” yelled a reporter.
The reporter was swiftly led outside the chamber. The Saudi crown prince and President Biden both disregarded the query.
After the meeting, a reporter asked Biden about the criticism he had received for shaking hands with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden also brushed off concerns about the possibility of a similar killing to Jamal Khashoggi’s.
The publisher of the Washington Post, Fred Ryan, responded to the president’s fist-bump with MBS by calling it shameful in light of Biden’s pledges to declare the Saudi government a pariah state following the murder of writer for the Washington Post and alleged terrorist Jamal Khashoggi.
Furthermore, even if President Biden succeeded in persuading the Saudis to slightly boost their oil output, the White House would only receive a bitter refusal. Later, the Saudi government would declare that it was already operating at close to capacity.
But despite the harsh criticism for the failed foreign policy junket, Biden made the questionable boast that he had really challenged MBS in an attempt to save face.
On Sunday, Biden refuted accusations made by Saudi Arabia’s state foreign affairs minister that he did not question the crown prince about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
The Washington Post, however, refuted Biden’s claim that he had faced MBS, noting that his top advisers had chosen to encourage Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production rather than treat it as a real pariah state.
Therefore, the Saudis contend that Biden is lying, and according to White House sources, the president is also lying.
