President Biden left Israel earlier in the day (where he had a few gaffes and, er, interesting moments) and then Air Force One made its way to Saudi Arabia, where Biden will meet with Saudi royalty.
When Biden arrived he gave the Crown Prince a fist bump:
President Biden fist bumps Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during their first face-to-face encounter in Jeddah.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 15, 2022
Biden fist bumps with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as meetings get underway in Jeddah pic.twitter.com/jtdgUYmliD
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) July 15, 2022
A choreographed fist bump after lots of internal discussions about whether Biden would shake MBS’ hand, smile or even grip his arm https://t.co/RvMF1KWN0U https://t.co/eaSMNbubpZ
— Carol Lee (@carolelee) July 15, 2022
The White House has said that Biden would be fist bumping instead of shaking hands because of Covid, but in Israel, the president shook several hands. The Saudi Crown Prince received the fist bump instead.
Pretty sure a fist bump looks far more chummy than a formal, run of the mill handshake. https://t.co/VlOVtQcyby
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) July 15, 2022
The fist bump has more of a “what’s up, bro” feel to it.
So I guess this is supposed to be lesser than a handshake? 😂 pic.twitter.com/045ZlI6rp2
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) July 15, 2022
— Darin (@CookieDoughCons) July 15, 2022
I mean, if you’re scared to shake hands with another man because of COVID, you probably shouldn’t have the most important job in the world. https://t.co/9Mv7z2tl2v
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) July 15, 2022
Up next Biden will ask the Saudis to ramp up oil production to help stop his plummeting approval rating:
Joe “Mr. Equality” Biden shuts down our domestic oil industry so he can go abroad, bump fists with and beg for oil from a guy that murders journalists and whose country calls being gay a “heinous crime” and a “disgrace”
pic.twitter.com/X64QK8m89W— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) July 15, 2022
Now he'll plead w//Saudis for more: The nation's strategic oil reserve was created for a genuine natl energy emergency, not b/c Joe Biden’s Democrats face midterm election annihilation. But here he is depleting it & shipping it to foreign markets! https://t.co/pES4hyV07S
— Andrew Malcolm (@AHMalcolm) July 15, 2022
The Biden White House is already trying to lower expectations (we’ve gotten used to doing that with this administration):
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan has lowered expectations that President Biden will leave Saudi Arabia with a deal to increase oil production, saying such an agreement could take weeks. https://t.co/0k9RVzvwGm
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 15, 2022
Meanwhile, GOP Sen. John Kennedy asked a great question a couple of days ago:
What makes Pres. Biden think that Saudi oil is cleaner than American oil?
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) July 13, 2022
Can Peter Doocy please ask Biden’s press secretary that question at the next briefing?
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Related:
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says it’s time for Biden to go into ‘executive Beast Mode’
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