President Joe Biden defended a meeting with Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia after he was attacked by leftists for failing to deliver on his campaign promise to turn Riyadh into a rogue state, saying he would only see MBS at a broader “international meeting”.
As part of his campaign, Biden pledged to make “human rights the center of US foreign policy”, and as part of that he denounced Saudi Arabia as “rogue” for its role in the assassination. Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
But rising gasoline prices, reaching $5 per gallon, changed Biden’s mind. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), Americans will pay $450 more for gas in 2022 than last year, adjusted for inflation.
As a result, Biden is now trying to unravel tight ties with the Gulf state.
Leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reportedly refused to answer their phones during the Ukraine crisis after repeatedly belittling President Joe Biden during his first years in office. https://t.co/rWIOz8qySr
– Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 9, 2022
But liberal lawmakers and human rights groups have even condemned Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia as part of his Middle East tour next month.
When asked by a reporter how he would deal with Khashoggi’s death, Biden specifically said he would not meet with MBS.
“I am not going out with MBS. “I’m going to an international conference and that will be a part of it,” he said. Reuters News Service.
in an interview with BreitbartFormer US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said it was “Biden’s fault” to call MBS a pariah.
Biden is reportedly planning to visit Saudi Arabia despite promising to treat it as “the outsider”. https://t.co/BjtMTdLVnt
– Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 2, 2022
“The opportunity Saudi Arabia provides for a safer and more prosperous Middle East is huge and Biden must take the progress we have made and take further steps,” the former ambassador said, referring to the steps taken by the Trump administration.
Biden “went home” when he came to power. Friedman said he was “not as strongly committed to a new Middle East as ours”.
Biden is trying to reclaim some of that territory, but for the wrong reasons.”
“He was desperately trying to drive the price of oil down and drive the price of gasoline to less than $4 a gallon before the election,” Friedman added. “This is real pressure on Democrats in the midterms, but that’s not what should be the focus.”
“If we had remained energy-independent, it would no longer be necessary,” Friedman said.
The poll shows that 74 percent of Americans believe Biden’s high gas price is a “very important” factor in how they vote in the midterm elections.
Source: Breitbart
