We all knew this would be a train wreck. White House Steward Joe Biden has left Saudi Arabia humiliated. In 2020, Biden declared that the kingdom was a “pariah” after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. I couldn’t care less. The man walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect certain documents regarding his pending marriage. He probably knew the risks. The nasty part about this story isn’t the sordid tales of torture and dismemberment that reportedly happened to Khashoggi. It’s the reaction. Everyone acted as if Walter Cronkite was the person butchered. The outrage was more intense because Khashoggi died while Trump was president. There would have been a more muted response if Hillary were at the helm.
It’s a salient point because Joe needs Saudi energy cooperation now that he’s wrecked the energy independence plan Trump started. The bad news is that Saudi Arabia is producing oil close to capacity. The United Arab Emirates was already at capacity. We rolled into the kingdom begging for oil, and Khashoggi was a topic on the docket for the press. Did Biden mention this to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman? He said he did. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says otherwise. Did Biden forget? Either way, he looks like he lied.
🚨NEW: After POTUS departed Saudi Arabia on AF1, Saudi FM Adel al-Jubeir called my colleague @AlexHoganTV back for a 2nd interview - even though Fox interviewed him yday.
He pointedly claimed he “did not hear” Biden tell MBS he believed he was responsible for Khashoggi’s murder
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 16, 2022
This is one of many claims Saudis made only at the conclusion of Biden’s trip — dampening White House touting incremental progress on 2 key objectives: normalizing relations between Israel & Saudi Arabia, and bolstering energy security pic.twitter.com/0JkTJW1I0z
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 16, 2022
via joemiller