President Biden said he raised the 2018 murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday and that he told the Saudi leader he believed him to be responsible for Khashoggi's death.
"I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now," Biden said in a speech after hours of meetings with the Saudi crown prince and other Saudi officials in Jeddah.
"I said, very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on the issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am," Biden continued. "I'll always stand up for our values."
Peppered with questions from reporters about the exchange, Biden later said that the Saudi crown prince told him he was not "personally responsible" for Khashoggi's murder.
"I indicated I thought he was," Biden said. "He said he was not personally responsible for it, and he took action against those who were responsible."
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