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Trump backer Tom Barrack defends Saudi Arabia
Real estate developer said that kingdom was misunderstood by the West
Published: February 12, 2019 16:37
Ed Clowes, Staff Reporter
Dubai: America is in no moral position to criticise Saudi Arabia, according to financier and key Trump backer Tom Barrack.
Speaking on stage at the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Barrack was asked by CNN’s Becky Anderson about the reputational damage to Saudi Arabia over the Jamal Khashoggi killing.
In response, he joked: “As long as you don’t make me a guest at the Ritz.”
With regards to the murder of journalist Khashoggi, Barrack said that “whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse ...”
“The atrocities in any ... country are dictated by the rule of law,” he continued. “So for us to dictate what we think is the moral code there, when we have a young man and regime that is trying to push themselves into 2030, I think is a mistake.”
Barrack went on to launch a lengthy defence of Saudi Arabia, accusing Western countries of failing to understand the kingdom.
more
https://gulfnews.com/business/trump-backer-tom-barrack-defends-saudi-arabia-1.62027403
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Did he really say these things? I cannot believe he actually said them, but maybe he was misquoted. (?) The murder of Khashoggi happened in Turkey, not Saudi Arabia. Murder is murder in every country of the world, there is no "moral code" anywhere that permits murder for political gain. If Tom Barrack is defending Saudi Arabia (and its royal family), then we must assume there's big money in it for him, somehow.
