Even though the CIA and the United Nations have concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) authorized the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Donald Trump defended his relationship with the Saudi leader.
According to CNN, Trump blew off his own CIA’s finding and said that “nobody has directly pointed a finger” at MBS for the murder of Khashoggi.
When another reporter pushed Trump further on the subject, he half-heartedly admitted that, sure, he mentioned Khashoggi’s killing when he met with the prince.
“That was a bad event,” the president said. “I asked him what was happening.”
Fact check: Just about everybody has ‘directly pointed a finger’ at MBS
Of course, Donald Trump’s suggestion that nobody has pinned Khashoggi’s murder on MBS is completely false.
As CNN reported last year, “The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the Saudi government’s denials that the de facto ruler was involved, according to a senior US official and a source familiar with the matter.”
Last week, a report from the United Nations reached the same conclusion and said that there is “credible evidence meriting further investigation by a proper authority.”
In other words, Trump is lying to protect the Saudis, with whom he and his family have deep financial ties.
Trump’s habit of siding with brutal dictators on the world stage
Under any other presidency, it would be a stunning development for the commander-in-chief to stand on the world stage and give the benefit of the doubt to a murderous dictator over his own intelligence community.
With Trump, though, it has become a rather common occurrence.
During the G20 summit this week, Trump gave the same treatment to Vladimir Putin when he joked with the Russian leader about attacking the U.S. elections.
Last summer in Helsinki, in one of the most blatant examples of Trump siding with Russia over his own country, he bowed down to Vladimir Putin by rejecting the U.S. intelligence communities finding that Russia attacked U.S. democracy in 2016.
All of this goes without mentioning how Trump has spent the last two years getting played by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a dictator Trump has elevated on the world stage without getting anything substantive in return – unless you count a couple of love letters.
At home, Donald Trump works tirelessly to undermine American institutions. Abroad, he alienates America’s closest allies and embraces murderous tyrants.
It’s nothing short of disgraceful.
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