On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) said that there is a line to be walked where we want Saudi Arabia to be an ally and to bring them into the Abraham Accords, but “we ought to be very, very clear what happened” with the killing of Jamal Khashoggi “was totally unacceptable.”
Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “[Y]ou actually co-sponsored a bill about putting sanctions on Saudi Arabia after Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, for the killing of [him]. What’s it like when you see the President say that MBS had nothing to do with his murder?”
Curtis responded, “Well, Kaitlan, going back those few years, I remember almost a sick feeling in my stomach when I heard about what happened over there. And today, I had that exact same feeling. Just bringing this topic up is really, really sad, and, as you know, gruesome, and I think it’s wrong not to confront it for what it is.”
Collins then said, “He not only didn’t confront it. He almost justified his murder by saying he was very controversial, and a lot of people didn’t like Jamal Khashoggi.”
Curtis answered, “So, look, I don’t care if you don’t like somebody, or if they’re controversial, like, we all agree, like, that’s not somebody you murder, right? So, to me, it’s just very, very clear, it was a terrible thing that happened, and we should condemn it, and not be apologetic about that.”
Curtis added, “We do have a problem, and the previous administration confronted it as well, and that is, we do want a relationship with Saudi Arabia. We don’t want them getting closer to China. We do want them to join the Abraham Accords. And if the President’s walking that line carefully, I think there’s a place to walk. But I think we ought to be very, very clear what happened was totally unacceptable.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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