CNN anchor Jake Tapper laid into President Joe Biden on Sunday morning, lambasting him for allowing Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman to claim immunity in the murder of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Tapper concluded his Sunday broadcast of “State of the Union” with a monologue addressing the fact that the Biden administration had determined that — under international law — the crown prince has immunity in the 2018 murder, which Biden has said the prince ordered.
WATCH:
A Biden administration court filing states the office held by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince shields him from a lawsuit filed by the fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. CNN’s @jaketapper questions President Biden’s previous pledge to address the killing. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/cPHygn6ZZc
— CNN (@CNN) November 20, 2022
“A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that MBS ‘mocks President Biden in private, making fun of the 79-year-old’s gaffes and questioning his mental acuity,’ according to people inside the Saudi government. Nothing gets leaked by the Saudi government to The Wall Street Journal without MBS signing off on it, President Biden,” Tapper began.
“What are you — what are we — getting in exchange for letting this thug get away with murder, Mr. President?” Tapper asked. “Other than the stink of complicity?”
The Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan criticized Biden when the news was first reported, accusing the president of effectively granting bin Salman a “license to kill” in a blistering statement published Friday.
New statement from Washington Post Publisher Fred Ryan pic.twitter.com/D0Cbt6Cpg2
— Washington Post PR (@WashPostPR) November 18, 2022
“In granting legal immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Biden is failing to uphold America’s most cherished values. He is granting a license to kill to one of the world’s most egregious human-rights abusers who is responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist,” Ryan wrote.
Ryan went on to note that King Salman had named his son — the crown prince — prime minister in an effort to use international law to shield him from the consequences of his actions.
“By going along with this scheme, President Biden is turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality. The American people – and those wronged by MBS in Saudi Arabia and around the world – deserve better,” he concluded.
According to a Justice Department filing referencing a lawsuit brought by Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, “Mohammed bin Salman, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the sitting head of government and, accordingly, is immune from this suit.”
