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President Joe Biden arrived in Washington shortly after midnight Sunday when he said that Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, who denied ever hearing Biden confront Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, was wrong.
After spending several days in the Middle East, Biden landed outside the White House and answered several questions from reporters, including one about a recent controversial remark by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister.
“The Saudi foreign minister said he didn’t hear you blaming the crown prince for killing Khashoggi. Is he telling the truth?” asked the reporter.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 16: President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Thassos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“No,” Biden said quickly, before dismissing another reporter who asked about the fisticuffs. “Why don’t you talk about something important?” the president added.
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During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Biden told reporters that he told MBS that he believed the Saudi leader was responsible for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
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Khashoggi was a Washington Post contributor who was killed in 2018 by Saudi security officials. The country’s leadership, including MBS, is suspected of having been involved in or approved of the action.
“Regarding the assassination of Khashoggi, I brought it up at the beginning of the meeting, making clear what I thought about it then and what I think about it now,” Biden said at a press conference on Friday.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 16: President Joe Biden steps off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Thassos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Biden said MBS heard him and responded during their meeting.
“He [MBS] basically said he wasn’t personally responsible for it. I pointed out that it was, and he said that he was not personally responsible for it and took action against those responsible,” the president added.
Biden said the world leaders then discussed “more about how dealing with any opposition to criticism of the Saudi administration in other countries is seen as, to me, a violation of human rights.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 16: President Joe Biden steps off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Thassos Katopodis/Getty Images)
However, the next day, as Biden was leaving Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, told Fox News’ Alex Hogan that Biden never discussed Khashoggi’s assassination during the visit.
“I didn’t hear that particular phrase,” al-Jubeir said. “The president mentioned that the United States is committed to human rights because ever since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also noted that American presidents — it’s part of the agenda of every American president.”
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When he spoke to reporters Sunday morning, Biden also said he “hopes” inflation will come down soon and that his administration is “working on” preventing people who use marijuana from going to prison.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Mailer and Brooke Syngman contributed to this report.
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