US President Donald Trump’s defense of Saudi Arabia despite its long history of terrorism and deflecting blame on Iran is “tragic” and completely destroys Trump’s credibility, a former US Senate candidate says.
Trump has strongly defended ties with Saudi Arabia despite international condemnation of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
Trump on Wednesday thanked Saudi Arabia for the declining price of oil, one day after he said the United States would back the country even if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Trump, who was answering questions about possible punishment for Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last month, evaded a question about defending human rights with a short sentence and then abruptly switched the subject to Iran, calling the Islamic Republic a “terrorist nation.”
“This is absoluterly outlandish…