"Shameful": Biden's Trip to Saudi Arabia for More Oil Ignores Human Rights Abuses, Khashoggi Murder

President Biden is set to meet with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday as part of a four-day visit to restore key relationships and build security cooperation in the Middle East. Human rights activists are outraged that the U.S. is willing to support a leader responsible for human rights violations including in the brutal war in Yemen, the state-sanctioned killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and more. One of Biden's aims is to convince Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, an answer to pressures at home over skyrocketing gas prices from the Russian war in Ukraine. If we're willing to sacrifice for oil prices, there are much less heinous sacrifices to be making than to continue military support for the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE," says Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now.