CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) over his defense of President Biden’s interaction with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“He flew to Saudi Arabia and he fist bumped Mohammed bin Salman, the man responsible according to Biden’s own director of national intelligence for ordering a brutal murder of a Washington Post journalist, killing him and then dismembering him with a bonesaw,” Tapper said, according to video published by Mediaite.
American intelligence found that Salman approved the killing of Washington Post journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Biden is currently on a trip to the Middle East, where he met with Israeli officials earlier this week and officials from Saudi Arabia, including Salman, on Friday. Biden greeted the Saudi crown prince with a fist bump, prompting outcry from critics.
Following their meeting, Biden said that he raised the murder of Khashoggi with Salman.
During the segment, Coons said that he was “encouraged” by Biden’s conduct at the meeting.
“And I would expect that we will continue to balance advocating our core principles around human rights with the sustained partnership with the Saudis that is critical for us to sustain the unity of the West that President Biden has played such a central role in pulling together in the months since Russia invaded Ukraine,” Coons, a Biden ally, said.
Tapper challenged Coons, reminding him that Biden promised during his presidential run to “turn Saudi Arabia into a ‘pariah’ nation.”
“I mean, that fist bump photograph, I think a lot of Americans saw that and were revolted by it,” Tapper said.
Coons responded that the president had to make a “brutal and tough choice” given that Saudi Arabia has oil reserves, and the U.S. needs to replace resources stymied by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“If we cannot secure additional resources for the gas and oil needs to replace Russian oil and gas in the coming months — and bluntly, our president faced tough choice,” he said.
“Given the situation we’re in in the world today, given what changed on Feb. 24, given what we all know about the ongoing murders — the brutal killing of innocent civilians happening every single day in Ukraine, I support our president.”