President Joe Biden received harsh criticism for his trip to Saudi Arabia after fist bumping Mohammed bin Salman while not achieving any notable deliverable public policy outcomes for America.
On Friday, CNN reported on a statement by Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post. "The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salmon was worst than a handshake — it was shameful," Ryan said.
"It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking," he explained.
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At a press conference, Biden laughed when asked about the fist bump.
"The Saudis clearly got what they wanted," CNN's Wolf Blitzer reported.
"All the pictures we have seen of the fist bump, the walking in, these were from Saudi sources, not U.S. media," Blitzer said. "It was the Saudi media that got access to these moments which was significant. The Saudis wanted these pictures to be out there, the Saudi foreign minister released a lot of still pictures of the meeting that was going on because it seemed to elevate the Saudis and so no matter what emerges and what the president says, I think the Saudis will emerge from all of this, they will see themselves as having achieved what they wanted, respectability, they got that from the president of the United States."
Notably, the Saudis didn't commit to any increase in oil output, which has been a goal of the Biden Administration. Inflation and high prices at the pump have eaten in the president's approval ratings and put his party in danger of losing Congress in the November midterm elections.
With Bob Brigham.
