‘COLD-BLOODED’

Washington Post Blasts Biden for Granting MBS ‘License to Kill’

The paper’s publisher said that Biden “is failing to uphold America’s most cherished values” and is “turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality.”

The Washington Post on Friday condemned the Biden administration’s determination that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be granted immunity in a lawsuit filed against him for the 2018 slaying of Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Stating that President Joe Biden “is failing to uphold America’s cherished values,” the paper’s CEO and publisher Fred Ryan added that the president 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.” Calling Saudi Arabia’s decision to make MBS prime minister a “calculated effort to manipulate the law and shield him from accountability,” Ryan blasted Biden for “going along with this scheme” and “turning his back on fundamental principles of press freedom and equality.” The Post joins other human rights groups and Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who filed the lawsuit, in slamming the administration’s actions. “Jamal died again today,” Cengiz tweeted on Thursday. Biden had already faced backlash this past summer after meeting personally with bin Salman (and sharing an infamous fist bump) despite previously saying he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state.

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Justin BaragonaSenior Media Reporter

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