President Joe Biden is facing bipartisan flack for his humiliating ‘fist bump’ with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, also known as MBS, during the course of his groveling to persuade the Middle Eastern nation to significantly increase its oil output.
MBS smirked during bilateral talks on Friday in a knowing display of how embarrassing the U.S. president’s kowtowing was to the Saudis.
“President Biden, is Saudi Arabia still a pariah?” a reporter shouted.
The reporter was quickly ushered out of the room. Both President Biden and the Saudi crown prince ignored the question.
Biden later dismissed a reporter’s question after the meeting that he was under “a lot of fire” for greeting Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist-bump and dismissed questions about the potential of another murder like Jamal Khashoggi’s.
“What a silly question,” Biden said to reporters. “How could I possibly be sure of any of that?”
“I just made it clear if anything occurs like that again there, [they will] get that response and much more,” he added. Read more