“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin said Monday that President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia should not be defended simply because he is a Democrat.
Hostin differed from her fellow co-hosts, who immediately turned the criticism to former President Donald Trump’s visit to the country, and argued that Biden should face heat for visiting the country, too. The co-host also pushed back against the White House’s claims that the president “fist bumping” the prince was a COVID protocol.
“No, I don’t agree with these Trump apologists that have no problem with Trump doing it,” Hostin said. “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 he’s a Democratic president. I think it’s bad no matter how you look at it and we shouldn’t be here saying ‘well, Trump did it, so it’s okay that Biden did it.’ It’s just not okay.”
“The bottom line is, this was an unforced error,” she continued. “The White House is saying ‘oh, it’s because of COVID, he was fist bumping. Well, I don’t know, he was shaking hands with people in Israel, he was shaking hands with people in the Palestinian authority, he didn’t have a mask on and he’s fist bumping this guy who is clearly a murderer.”
Biden fist bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his trip to the country Friday, despite the administration declassifying information in 2021 that blamed the crown prince for approving the murder of Saudi Arabian Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018.
In Biden’s defense, co-host Whoopi Goldberg compared Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and criminalizing abortion in several states.
“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,” Goldberg said. “Because plenty of states that we live in are doing the same thing. Removing protected rights from women, disallowing them control over their bodies. I just want to say, I think part of the big problem we have is that our own hands are dirty quite often.” (RELATED: Biden Spox Basically Ignores CNN Question About ‘Fist Bump’ And Saudi Prince)
Co-host Joy Behar criticized Trump for meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un. She then placed blame on Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Republicans for relying on the fossil fuel industry rather than green energy for the president relying on Saudi Arabia for the United States’ oil supply.
Co-host Ana Navarro argued that “Trump apologists” defended Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia.
“Do they have an issue with the fact that Donald Trump is about to host a Bedminster club here in New Jersey and the shadows of the 911 memorial, a golf tournament being backed and paid for by the Saudi government to refresh their image, to reinvent themselves,” Navarro said. “911 families are asking Trump not to allow his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey to be the venue for that. That is not about U.S. interest.”
Behar pushed back after Hostin argued Biden “normalized” the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia by fist bumping the crown prince.
“Is he normalizing it, really?” Behar said.
“Yes, Joy, this is the rehabilitation that MBS wants,” Hostin argued. “And Joe Biden gave that to him.”