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A New York Times piece reported that OPEC’s decision to cut oil production signifies that President Joe Biden’s "fist bump diplomacy" with the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was a "failure."
Written by reporters David Sanger and Ben Hubbard, the piece blasted Biden’s attempt to get OPEC leaders in Saudi Arabia to produce enough gas to meet U.S. demands and "avoid an increase in gas prices ahead of the midterm elections."
The report claimed that OPEC’s move to cut production proves that Biden’s foreign policy and diplomacy attempts with Saudi Arabian leaders have not been as successful as the Biden administration would like.
PUNDITS RIP BIDEN OVER FIST BUMP
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fist bumps U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
It specifically called out Biden’s infamous "fist bump" with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, claiming the diplomacy it supposedly represented was a "failure."
The article noted the production cut "also exposes the failure of his fist-bump diplomacy over the summer with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia."
The reporters began by pointing out how this OPEC production cut "underscored the challenges the United States faces in managing its foreign and economic policy at a time when the global economy is at risk of recession, and energy politics has emerged as a key component of the conflict in Ukraine."
They claimed that OPEC’s decision "followed a concerted but ultimately unsuccessful diplomatic effort by Washington to halt the oil production cut, a signal that Mr. Biden’s influence over his Gulf allies was far less than he had hoped."
Detailing Biden’s attempts at forestalling such a cut, the piece said, "For days, the White House sought to prevent the cut of two million barrels a day. It called on some of its closest Arab allies — starting with Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Biden visited in July, and met with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman."
Biden made the move despite "objections of human rights organizations and even some of his own advisers," the report noted, referring to anger over the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Kashoggi, approved by Bin Salman.
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The Times report added, "He took the risk, officials said at the time, to address a variety of national security concerns — but mostly to increase the supply of oil — even if it meant withstanding the critique that he was partaking in the rehabilitation of Prince Mohammed, who the C.I.A. concluded approved the assassination of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018."
Biden’s July fist bump with the crown prince during their July meeting sparked anger from media figures who called it "shameful" in light of the Kashoggi killing, and especially after Biden referred to Saudi Arabia as a "pariah" during his 2020 election campaign.
Though the Biden administration perceived that this "fist bump diplomacy" was successful. The Times report said, "The quiet understanding emerging from the trip was that Saudi Arabia would increase its production by about 750,000 barrels a day, and that the United Arab Emirates would follow suit with an additional 500,000."
The Times report claimed that the OPEC gas cut will raise gas prices ahead of the midterms, which will affect the Democratic Party's chances in winning races. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
That didn’t last. The piece reported, "The production cut announced Wednesday will reduce global daily production by about 2 percent, though some of that is a phantom reduction because the group’s members were already underproducing from their own goals. But its effect on prices may be greater, upward of 15 to 30 cents a gallon at the pump, experts estimated."
It added, "And for Mr. Biden, with midterm elections only a month away, the timing could not be worse."