‘The View’ Clashes Over Biden’s Mohammed Bin Salman Fist Bump: ‘It’s Just Not OK’
President Joe Biden’s consistent defenders on The View clashed on Monday over the president’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with co-host Sunny Hostin bashing the notorious fist bump and Joy Behar justifying Biden’s actions.
Biden’s decision to meet with MBS during his recent Middle East trip had already sparked controversy, mainly because of his campaign promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state over bin Salman’s role in assassinating journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The president’s greeting with the smirking crown prince prompted outrage from critics who felt Biden was giving Khashoggi’s killer a pass.
“Hey @POTUS, Is this the accountability you promised for my murder?” Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz tweeted, alongside a caption from her late partner’s Twitter account: “The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.”
Biden, meanwhile, has laughed off the criticism of the fist bump while saying he’s “sorry” Cengiz “feels that way.” He also called it a “silly question” when pressed by reporters on whether he could pledge that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t target other critics in the future.
Returning after a week-long absence due to illness, Behar acknowledged on Monday’s View broadcast that “I defend Biden quite a bit” before bringing up former President Donald Trump’s fondness for authoritarian leaders.
“And let's not forget that Trump was pals with [Vladimir] Putin and Kim Jong-un,” the liberal co-host said. “He practically had them in the Lincoln bedroom! I mean, he was really interested in being with those guys.”After saying that Biden “wouldn’t have to fist-bump this guy” if Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “would allow the industries to cut back on fossil fuels,” Behar credited Biden for supposedly confronting MBS on Khashoggi’s death. She also claimed the president had no other options but to meet the crown prince.
“Again, I don’t know if Biden had a choice,” the veteran host declared.
Guest host Ana Navarro took issue with “Trump apologists” who were seemingly fine with the ex-president’s friendly 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia and Trump’s embrace of the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour. Hostin, however, said this does not justify Biden’s actions.
“I had a problem when Trump did it, but I don’t think that Biden gets a pass just because he’s a Democrat, just because he’s a Democratic president,” she stated. “I think that it’s bad no matter how you look at it, and we shouldn’t be here saying, ‘Well, Trump did it, so it’s OK that Biden did it.’ It’s just not OK.”
Adding that it was an “unforced error” on the president’s part, Hostin continued to take Biden to task over the optics of the fist bump. She also didn’t buy any excuses that may be coming from the administration.
“The White House is saying well, it’s because of COVID he was fist bumping. Well, I don’t know,” she declared. “He was shaking hands with people in Israel. He was shaking hands with people with the Palestinian Authority. He didn’t have a mask on, and he’s fist bumping this guy who is clearly a murderer.”
Hostin continued: “Again, I think this is a murderer. You don’t normalize a murderer by this fist bump. It was the photo-op that he wanted.”
Behar quickly interjected, asking if Biden is “really normalizing it,” prompting her co-host to shoot back: “Yes. Absolutely.”
As Behar continued to defend Biden’s MBS meeting, saying that “everyone with a brain looking at it” understands why he did it, Hostin ended the segment with one final parting shot.
“No, Joy. This is the rehabilitation that MBS wants, and Joe Biden gave that to him.”
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