‘We Are the Superpower, Not the Supplicant’: Dem Congressman ‘Not Entirely Comfortable’ With Messages Conveyed by Biden’s Saudi Visit
President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia has stirred up plenty of controversy, including in his own party. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN on Friday he is “not entirely comfortable” with images of Biden fist-bumping Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, especially in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
New pic: the President Biden / MBS fist bump at the royal palace via @spagov acct pic.twitter.com/p2NPaQ1jK5
— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) July 15, 2022
Speaking with CNN’s Ana Cabrera, Malinowski first praised Biden for being “honest” about Saudi Arabia by calling for the country to be a “pariah” when he was still running for president, but said the U.S. should be asking for far more than increased oil production in the ongoing meetings.
“We are the superpower, not the supplicant in this relationship. And I want to make sure that whatever they are discussing right now, we come out of this with the concessions that Saudi Arabia needs to make to right their relationship with us,” the Democrat said.
He also accused Saudi Arabia of “aligning” with Russia amidst the latter country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In every important way, they’ve aligned themselves with Russia by artificially keeping the price of oil high, hurting us, hurting American consumers, and profiting themselves off this terrible war, and you know, I think it’s time for the United States to show a little more strength in our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The way for Biden’s meeting to be a success would be for Saudi Arabia to enact “real reforms” on human rights, Malinowski went on to say.
“I’m looking for some results out of this meeting on human rights, it doesn’t matter if it’s discussed in the meeting. What matters again are the results,” the congressman said.
Watch above via CNN.
