One analyst was stunned by President Donald Trump’s comments about a slain journalist during a press conference on Monday with Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
Trump was asked about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during the press conference. Trump deflected the question and said Khashoggi was a “controversial figure” and that “a lot of people didn’t like him.” Khashoggi was a prominent critic of the Crown Prince, and America’s intelligence community concluded that MBS likely ordered Khashoggi’s killing in 2018.
New York Times reporter Zolan Kanno-Youngs discussed Trump’s comments on CNN’s “The Arena” with Kaisie Hunt.
“He didn’t just distance himself from the question when the question came up about U.S. intelligence finding that the Crown Prince likely directed the killing of Jamal Khashoggi,” he said. “Often when there are tough questions in the Oval Office. I’ve seen a bunch of these meetings now, the president will almost refer to the foreign leader to answer the question and defer it. And this one, he didn’t distance himself or defer. He leaned in and almost scoffed at the question.”
On the same day that Khashoggi’s widow is hoping that the White House could urge the Saudis to return the remains of Jamal Khashoggi, the president answers that question by essentially saying, ‘Well, he was a controversial figure, and many people didn’t like him,’” Kanno-Youngs continued. “Somebody who was doing his job as a journalist. It was stunning. It’s a stunning moment.”
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