Sunday 5 June 2022 08:04 PM Adam Schiff slams Biden after president says he'd visit Saudi Arabia on future ... trends now
President Joe Biden is catching heat from a top member of his own party on Sunday after the commander-in-chief failed to rule out a meeting with Saudi Arabia's leaders in a future trip to the region.
'I wouldn't go. I wouldn't shake his hand,' House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff told CBS News' Face the Nation.
It comes as the president is reportedly readying for a trip to the Gulf that includes a face-to-face with de facto Saudi Arabian ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Schiff called for the ruler to be 'shunned' by the globe - and the president.
Bin Salman - or 'MBS,' as he's known - was accused of orchestrating the murder of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. He's denied having a hand in the matter, despite American intelligence reports indicating it happened on his orders.
'This is someone who butchered an American resident, cut him up into pieces and in the most terrible and premeditated way,' Schiff said.
'And until Saudi Arabia makes a radical change in terms of human rights, I wouldn't want anything to do with him.'
On the 2020 campaign trail Biden had vowed to make Saudi Arabia a 'pariah' on the world stage if elected, citing the oil-rich nation's human rights abuses.
But it appears the White House is finding it tough to stick by that pledge as it grapples with surging gas prices fueled by out-of-control inflation combined with Russia's invasion of Ukraine wreaking havoc on the energy supply chain.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff advised President Biden not to meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
After Biden gained bipartisan praise for banning Russian energy imports in response to its brutal attack, the president quickly drew criticism from Republican lawmakers amid reports that his officials were looking at countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela to fill the gap left behind.
Schiff, a progressive,
