Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan hit out at President Joe Biden on Tuesday over the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on the itinerary for his upcoming Middle East trip.
In a column published in the newspaper’s opinion pages, Mr Ryan wrote that Mr Biden’s trip “erodes our moral authority” and represents an “embarrassing reversal” after the president vowed during the 2020 campaign to hold Saudi Arabia’s leadership accountable for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Khashoggi, who wrote frequently for the Washington Post and other outlets, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 following his critical reporting on his native country’s government. The Central Intelligence Agency quickly concluded that the killing, which sparked widespread international outrage, was ordered by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Mr Biden was among those outraged by the manner of Mr Khashoggi’s death. While campaigning, he vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for its appalling human rights record that likely includes the murder of Mr Khashoggi.
“We were going to, in fact, make [Saudi Arabia] pay the price,” Mr Biden said at a 2019 debate.
That has not happened. Instead, with gas prices soaring in the US and the Crown Prince as firmly entrenched as ever, Mr Biden has included Saudi Arabia on a Middle East schedule that also includes stops in Israel and Palestine.
“Biden needs the Saudis to increase their oil production to help keep global energy prices in check,” Mr Ryan wrote in his scathing editorial. “The trip sends the message that the United States is willing to look the other way when its commercial interests are at stake.”
Mr Biden defended the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on his itinerary in a Washington Post opinion piece of his own, writing that his commitment to the cause of human rights is “clear and longstanding”.
“Fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank,” Mr Biden wrote.
Mr Ryan argued that the trip sends a dangerous message about the values that the US attaches to its free press, with other US-associated journalists jailed in countries like Russia and Syria. He said Mr Biden should demand the release of a number of political prisoners and a meeting with Saudi political dissidents or refuse to meet with the crown prince and shake his hand.
“So why is President Biden now going to Jiddah on bended knee to shake the ‘pariah’s’ bloodstanined hand?” Mr Ryan wrote. “Once again, he is seeking votes.”
