On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reacted to the State Department backing immunity for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from a lawsuit over the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by stating that “it’s disturbing that it’s the Biden administration that ends up doing what Donald Trump himself wouldn’t do.” And “humiliating for Biden” to seek support from MBS and get rejected on oil and then to make this move on top of it.
Ignatius said, “What’s disturbing here is that the decision to elevate him to Prime Minister that was made by his father, King Salman, came three days before the deadline that Judge Bates had set for a ruling on this question from the Justice Department and the State Department of whether he was entitled to immunity. In other words, this was the only way he was going to get it, and it came in at the 11th hour. The Trump administration, for all of its embrace of MBS, never gave him the immunity he wanted. He has been seeking immunity since 2020, 2021. The Trump administration left office without acting on that request. And it’s disturbing that it’s the Biden administration that ends up doing what Donald Trump himself wouldn’t do.”
He later added, “It’s deeply embarrassing. I want to say humiliating for Biden to have gone seeking support from MBS, and to have gotten basically the back of his hand, no support on oil, at a time when it’s strategically critical for the United States and to have this additional move, again, the State Department says it’s pro forma, it’s not a policy decision. Well, in the end, everything’s a policy decision.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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