The publisher of The Washington Post is slamming President Biden for not directly punishing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, saying he's "falling far short" of fulfilling a campaign promise.
In a Monday opinion piece, Fred Ryan, publisher of The Washington Post, was highly critical of Biden for sanctioning Saudi operatives but not Mohammed bin Salman after declassifying a report that found the Saudi crown prince "approved an operation" to "capture or kill" the late Post journalist.
Ryan notes Biden vowed to make the crown prince's regime "pay the price" during his presidential campaign. Now, Ryan writes, the president is "facing his first major test of a campaign promise and, it appears, he's about to fail it."
"The Biden administration now seems ready to move on while proposing some sanctions falling far short of honoring Biden's campaign promise to hold Mohammed accountable," he says. "It appears as though under the Biden administration, despots who offer momentarily strategic value to the United States might be given a 'one free murder' pass."
The Post publisher argued there's "no legal, moral or logical reason" to sanction the "lower-level players" in Khashoggi's killing while "letting the criminal mastermind get away without consequence," adding that leaving the Saudi crown prince unpunished leaves others "emboldened to do the same."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki this week defended the administration's lack of sanctions on bin Salman, arguing "there are more effective ways to make sure that this doesn't happen again and also to leave room to work with the Saudis on areas where there is mutual agreement." But Biden has been facing criticism over this decision, and the Post's editorial board previously pushed back against giving the Saudi crown prince a "pass," writing that "if the criminal apparatus MBS employed against Khashoggi is not dismantled, there will be more victims."