U.S. President Joe Biden on July 15 defended meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite promising not to do so while running for president.
The crown prince has been accused of orchestrating the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 after Khashoggi went into a Saudi embassy in Turkey.
Biden told reporters after the meeting, which also involved other Saudi officials, that he raised the murder of Khashoggi, who was employed by the Washington Post, at the top of the meeting.
“I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly: For an American President to be silent on an issue of human rights, is this consistent with—inconsistent with who we are and who I am? I’ll always stand up for our values,” he said in prepared remarks….