United States President Joe Biden declared that a Saudi Arabian minister had lied while discussing his recent trip to the country.
Late last week Biden flew to Saudi Arabia to meet with the Royal Family and ask them to produce more oil and reduce the costs as well to help ease inflation. Before flying there, however, Biden also pledged to address the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi directly with the crown prince who he has accused of murdering him.
Following the meeting, Biden held a press conference where he claimed he told Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) directly that he couldn’t sit by and not say anything about the murder. Biden even said that MBS addressed the issue, denying his involvement and stressing that America has made “mistakes” before as well.
It turns out that moments after Air Force One took off the runway in Jeddah Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir, who was at the meeting, called FOX News directly to report he “did not hear” Biden bring up Khashoggi once.
Biden addressed the claim by al-Jubeir when he returned to the White House. While walking across the South Lawn, a reporter yelled out and asked the president if the Saudi minister was telling the truth.
Biden shouted back, “No!” before getting upset at the same reporter for asking him if he regretted his fist bump with MBS, which some have suggested was akin to an endorsement from the United States.
While trusting Saudi Arabia seems like a stretch, the claims from their Foreign Minister really do make you wonder if Biden actually addressed the murder or stuck strictly to oil to not risk scuttling the deal. Who do you think is telling the truth in this situation?
