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The Washington Post, the former employer of the late journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has responded to Joe Biden's controversial meeting Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling it "shameful" that the president would fist-bump the prince.
"The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake—it was shameful," Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Post, said in a statement. "It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking."
Biden's meeting with bin Salman has been widely criticized and comes just a few years after he vowed as a presidential candidate to make the prince a global "pariah" for ordering the killing of Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and columnist for the Post, was assassinated on October 2, 2018, by agents of the Saudi government at its consulate in Istanbul. A month later, the CIA concluded that his killing had been ordered by bin Salman.
Shortly after Biden was given a warm reception from Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, the Saudi government widely shared images of the two leaders fist bumping.
Biden, who is on his first trip as president to the Middle East, has been seen fist-bumping world leaders and diplomats instead of offering handshakes as part of an effort to reduce physical contact during the rapid spread of the latest coronavirus variant.
However, the decision to avoid physical contact has raised questions about whether the White House was trying to avoid images of Biden shaking hands with bin Salman during their highly anticipated meeting this week.
Pressed by reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that speculation, saying, "We want to make sure that we're taking those precautions to keep [Biden] safe and to keep all of us safe."
"Yes, it's a fist bump rather than a handshake," Ashley Parker, the Post's White House bureau chief, tweeted. "BUT Biden still fist-bumped the man who ordered the murder — and bone-saw dismemberment — of a U.S. journalist, after refusing to say if he would directly confront MBS on Jamal Khashoggi's murder."
Biden agreed to meet with bin Salman as the U.S. is facing skyrocketing inflation that has driven up prices at the gas pump. As Ukraine's allies continue to boycott Russian oil, Biden has been left with few options.
"We have to counter Russia's aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world," Biden wrote in a Post op-ed published ahead of his visit to the oil-rich nation.
On Friday, Biden said he discussed Khashoggi's killing and "human rights and the need for political reform" at the start of his meeting with bin Salman.
"I was straightforward and direct in discussing it," Biden told reporters. "I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, 'For an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights—is this inconsistent with who we are and who I am? I'll always stand up for our values."
When asked about the fist bump by a journalist, Biden laughed but did not respond.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more