John King Presses John Kirby: Biden Once Called Saudi Arabia ‘Pariah,’ Now He Might Meet With Crown Prince?

CNN anchor John King pressed NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday over President Joe Biden’s calling Saudi Arabia a “pariah” only to reportedly be set to visit the kingdom during his trip next month to the Middle East.

During a segment on Inside Politics, King pointed out that the Biden administration omitted Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles due to those countries’ atrocious human rights records in what King called “a principled move to stand up for democracy.” Yet, King continued, there’s “hypocrisy” by the administration as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Saudi Arabia “a strategic partner for the United States” even though Biden, on the campaign trail, called the country a “pariah.”

Kirby replied that Biden was responding to the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Turkey. He said that the administration has held Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing. At the same time, said Kirby, “Saudi Arabia is an important partner.”

“The president also believes, John, it’s important for him to be willing and able to meet with leaders all across the world, no matter who they are or who they represent if in fact it’s going to improve U.S. national security interests and in this case the president absolutely believes that’s the case,” he said.

Kirby said there’s no trip to Saudi Arabia to officially announce. However, there are reports that the White House is planning a trip for Biden to visit the country when he visits the Middle East next month and meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, whom U.S. intelligence has blamed for directing the killing of Khashoogi.

“But the Saudi Arabians are key across the region and, quite frankly, across the world in terms of helping our national security interests. Look, our pilots have flown with their pilots, striking missiles, striking targets against ISIS. Our sailors and our ships sailed with their ships in the Red Sea and counterterrorism missions,” said Kirby. “And because of U.S. diplomatic engagement that we’re able to get this truce in Yemen in place, which is now in force for two months, saving countless lives. So there’s an awful lot to talk with the Saudis about. And the crown prince isn’t just the crown prince. He’s also the defense minister of that very important partner.”

King pressed Kirby on Biden and his administration’s change in tone about Saudi Arabia. He played a montage of soundbites from Biden, before he was president, blasting Trump and the Saudis and saying that “the days of cozying up to dictators is over.”

“Now, I get it, again, there’s realpolitik. Ronald Reagan was the crusader against Communism who met with [Mikhail] Gorbachev and history benefited from the president doing that,” said King. “Is this a case, at a minimum, of candidates say things in black and white, presidents have to deal with nuance?”

Kirby rejected the premise.

“No, I don’t think so, not at all. Look, the president was honest after Jamal Khashoggi was killed. And it was his administration we put accountability measures in, we held the Saudis accountable, parts of their government for that,” he said. “But they are an important partner in a region that is absolutely still vital to U.S. national security interests.”

During his trip, said Kirby, “the president is going to be completely unafraid to have honest, candid discussions with leaders around the world, those with whom we agree almost everything and those where we have differences. That’s what the leadership’s all about is being able to have those discussions. That’s what a real partnership is, when you can disagree about things and have an honest discussion about, say, human rights or civil rights and still be able to get things done on the national security landscape.”

Watch above, via CNN.