Washington (CNN) – Tom Barrack, a key donor and friend of President Donald Trump attempted to justify the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi Tuesday, arguing that the US does not have the moral authority to criticize Saudi Arabia due to its own record of “atrocities.”
When asked whether Khashoggi’s murder has damaged Saudi Arabia’s reputation on the world stage, Barrack began his answer with a joke before attributing public outrage over the killing in the US to a Western misunderstanding of the Saudi rule of law.
“As long as you don’t make me a guest at the Ritz,” Barrack quipped, before moving into his response to a question from CNN’s Becky Anderson at the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi.
“I believe that the problem with what’s happened with the Khashoggi incident is the same problems of the West misunderstanding the East that’s existed since Sykes–Picot. So the West is confused that the rule of law — doesn’t understand what the rule of law is in the Kingdom,” he added.
Barrack did not elaborate on what he meant about being “a guest at the Ritz,” but the comment appeared to be a reference to the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh that was converted into a lavish prison for high-profile Saudis during the kingdom’s anti-corruption sweep in late 2017.
While Barrack did not mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by name, he praised the economic vision of the Kingdom’s “young brilliant new leader” before attempting to justify the killing of Khashoggi.
“Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal or worse than the atrocities in Saudi Arabia. The atrocities in any autocratic country are dictated by the rule of law,” he said.
“So for us to dictate what we think is the moral code there when we have a young man in a regime that’s trying to push themselves into 2030, I think is a mistake,” Barrack added.
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford told CNN’s John Berman Wednesday that Barrack’s comments were unacceptable.
“There is never a time that you can go murder a journalist in a foreign country, dismember them and carry their body off and say that somehow that’s justifiable,” Lankford said.
“It never, ever is justifiable and it doesn’t equate to anything that’s happened in the United States where we stand up for the free press,” he added.
Barrack released a statement on Wednesday saying he apologized “for not making it clear at the time that I consider the killing reprehensible.”
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Tom Barrack, a key donor and friend of President Trump, attempted to justify the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi — arguing that the US does not have the moral authority to criticize Saudi Arabia due to its own record of "atrocities" https://t.co/dlWDGodmG6 pic.twitter.com/mMk7vLcB1T
— CNN (@CNN) February 14, 2019
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