JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Joe Biden’s fist bump with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was drawing criticism even before his meeting with the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia concluded on Friday.
Click here to watch the President's arrival
U.S. intelligence agencies said the the crown prince, known as MBS, ordered the 2018 killing of journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, tweeted a screen shot imagining what he would have said in response to the meeting, reading “the blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.”
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said “One fist bump is worth a thousand words.”
He added: “If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continuing grip oil-rich autocrats have on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today.”
The fist bump marked the first time Biden has met the crown prince since he took office. The brief encounter, which was captured by Saudi television, occurred as Biden stepped out of his presidential limousine after landing in the Red Sea city of Jeddah from Israel.
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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Joe Biden emerged from Air Force One on Friday, minutes after landing in Saudi Arabia and walked along a lavender carpet past a sword-bearing honor cordon.
Click here to watch the President's arrival
The subdued arrival ceremony in the Red Sea city of Jeddah featured no formal program. The president was greeted upon arrival by Mecca’s governor, Prince Khalid bin Faisal, and Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the U.S., Princess Reema bint Bandar.
He was not met by King Salman, the 86-year-old monarch who was hospitalized twice this year and requires a cane to aid his walking, nor by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. intelligence agencies assess ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Biden flew to the kingdom directly from Israel, hours after Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to “all air carriers,” signaling the end of its longstanding ban on Israeli flights overflying its territory — a key step toward normalization between the two Mideast nations.