Whoopi Goldberg: Biden 'didn't have to go to Saudi Arabia' to find 'a country that's violating human rights'
"The View" host Whoopi Goldberg compared the U.S. to Saudi Arabia while discussing human rights concerns and the president's fist bump.
"The View" host Whoopi Goldberg compared the U.S. to Saudi Arabia while discussing concerns over President Biden's fist bump with the Crown Prince, suggesting "plenty" of U.S. states were violating human rights by "disallowing women control over their bodies."
The president fist bumped Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon arriving at Al Salam Royal Palace on Friday. The president was criticized for the move due to concern for human rights and because a report released by the White House in 2021 blames MBS for the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"We say we’re not going to talk to these people, we’re not going to do it and then suddenly, you’re having to figure out how you converse with them because you’ve got to deal with them but, but I just wanted to read something someone handed me," Goldberg said. "He didn’t have to go to Saudi Arabia, however, to find a country that’s violating human rights or a country that's opposing women because plenty of states we live in are doing the same thing. Remove protective rights from women, disallowing women control over their bodies. So I just want to say, you know, I think part of the big problem that we have is our own hands are dirty quite often."
President Joe Biden is welcomed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Alsalam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022. (Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Co-host Joy Behar pointed to former President Donald Trump and said he was "pals" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.
"I do defend Biden quite a bit I know, but it’s like, if Manchin and some of these Republicans would allow the industries to cut back on fossil fuels and get alternative fuels going, he wouldn’t have to, you know, fist bump this guy," she said.
She said that while she understands there are personal feelings about the president's visit coming from 9/11 families, she didn't think the president had a choice.
Biden confronted MBS about Khashoggi's killing and told him that he believed he was responsible for it.
Whoopi Goldberg compares Saudi Arabia to the U.S. during "The View." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
Guest host Ana Navarro slammed Trump for planning to host a Saudi-backed golf tournament in New Jersey.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said she had an issue with Trump's actions with regard to Saudi Arabia as well, and that Biden shouldn't get a pass just because he's a Democrat.
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"I don’t agree with these Trump apologists that have no problem with Trump doing it. 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 – that he’s a Democratic president. I think that this – 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," Hostin said.
"It’s just not OK. In my view, I understand that he was there because of the oil prices. I understand that we should be taxing American oil companies that are gouging Americans," she added, saying that Biden was shaking hands with other officials during his trip.
Hostin said the president was normalizing a murder by giving MBS a fist bump and a "photo op that he wanted."
"The View" hosts discuss Biden's fist-bump with MBS. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
"Is he really normalizing it?" Behar asked.
"This is the rehabilitation that MBS wants," Hostin responded. "Joe Biden gave that to him."
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Washington Post CEO Fred Ryan slammed the move by the president and said it was "worse" than a handshake, adding that it was "shameful."
"The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful. It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking," Ryan said.
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