‘Did That Send the Right Message?’ CNN’s Dana Bash Presses Sen. Chris Murphy About Controversial Qatar World Cup Visit
CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) over his recent trip to Qatar during the World Cup, asking him to respond to criticism over his visit regarding the country’s troubled human rights record.
On Nov. 21, Murphy tweeted a photo of him after a lunch with “UN Secretary General António Guterres and my friend Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s Foreign Minister.”
The majority of the replies to Murphy’s tweet were highly critical, questioning why the senator referred to the Qatari foreign minister as a “friend” and pointing out the thousands of migrant workers who died during the construction of the World Cup venues, Qatari officials’ clashes with journalists, and the country’s anti-LGBTQ policies, — plus several tweets mocking Qatar’s alcohol ban during the soccer tournament, despite Budweiser’s sponsorship.
During Sunday’s State of the Union, Bash asked Murphy about his tweet and the photo with the Qatari foreign minister. “You called him a friend. You know that country is facing intense scrutiny over human rights abuses, alleged exploitation of migrant workers. Did that send the right message? You’re getting some criticism, I’m sure you know.”
“The foreign minister is a friend,” Murphy acknowledged, “but Qatar is a complicated partner. This is a country that needs to do better when it comes to its record of political freedom, its protection for workers. But it is also a country that has helped us save the lives of tens of thousands of afghanis. Qatar is the country where all the interpreters and personnel that supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan go while they’re awaiting processing to come to the United States. Nobody else was willing to step up and do that except for Qatar. I think we have to be clear –”
“Did you use your time talk privately with leaders there about human rights abuses?” Bash interjected.
“Sure,” Murphy replied. “In fact, we met with human rights leaders while in Qatar, we met with advocates for worker protections inside Qatar. Every single time I go to the Middle East, we talk about ways to partner with countries there. But we also raise these matters of significant human rights concerns.”
Watch above via CNN.
