Karine Jean-Pierre Says Jamal Khashoggi’s Fiancée’s Statement Blasting Biden Ahead of Saudi Arabia Visit Is ‘Devastating’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the words of the fiancée of the late Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia next month were “devastating.”

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi regime, was murdered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey in 2018. U.S. intelligence blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, or MBS, for being behind the act.

During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, a reporter quoted Hatice Cengiz, who said earlier in the day that she was “very disappointed” that Biden plans to meet with MBS and that her message to the president is that “if you have to put oil over principles and expediency over values can you at least ask where is Jamal’s body” and “what happened to his killers.” The reporter asked whether Biden “ask the crown prince these questions.”

In response, Jean-Pierre said, “First I want to say just hearing that is devastating, right? It is Jamal Khashoggi’s widow and so clearly our hearts go out to her and the pain that she’s currently going through.”

Jean-Pierre continued:

When it comes to human rights, that’s not something, the president is a straight shooter. This is not something he’s afraid to talk about. He has those conversations, leader-to-leader conversations on a regular basis. I cannot read out right now or lay out what the agenda is going to be or what the conversations are going to be. But I can assure you, I can assure you, that when it comes to human rights this is something that is a priority for this president.

Watch above, via The White House.