'Autocrats of World Smiling': Biden Slammed for Fist-Bumping Saudi Crown Prince
The Saudi crown prince was reportedly involved in the murder of a US journalist.
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Hours after Joe Biden's fist bump with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on 15 July made headlines, the move was called out by many. Foremost among them was Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz.
The Saudi crown prince was reportedly involved in the murder of the United States journalist.
Hatice posted on Twitter that if Khashoggi was able to tweet, he would have raised the question of accountability for his murder.
The Washington Post released a statement by the CEO calling the fist bump 'shameful.'
The visit comes three years after Biden had promised to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah state" in retaliation for Khashoggi's murder.
After he met the Saudi leader, he told the media, "I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am."
Yet, the fist pump drew the wrath of many, including Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, who said that he was compromising his support for human rights for a "smidgen of oil."
In another tweet, he said that the autocrats of the world are smiling.
Others made speculations about why Biden was in Saudi.
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