Democrat Senator Mazie Hirono Appears To Change Tune On Holding Saudi Arabia Accountable For Journalist’s Death

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, appears to have changed her tune on holding those alleged to have killed Jamal Khashoggi accountable for his murder in 2018.

Only a month after Khashoggi’s death in October 2018, Hirono attacked President Donald Trump, claiming on Twitter that Trump was siding with the “murderers.”

“Donald Trump yet again ignored our own intelligence community’s assessment in Jamal Khashoggi’s death, choosing to side with Mr. Khashoggi’s murderers. Why?” Hirono tweeted. “He will ignore even the most basic human rights standards to protect himself & his own interests.”

The Biden administration declassified a report last week on Khashoggi’s death that alleges Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) “approved” the operation that resulted in his death.

Hirono was asked about the development during an interview on Sunday with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos and she appeared to change her tune on the issue.

Here is the exchange that Hirono had with Stephanopoulos:

STEPHANOPOULOS: I do want to begin with that action against Saudi Arabia. President Biden said his team, as I said, is going to be announcing more actions tomorrow. Should he be doing more to target the crown prince personally

HIRONO: He is re-assessing our relationship with Saudi Arabia, which is an ally, and I don’t think the chapter is closed on the outcome of the disclosure of this report. That’s my hope.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So what would you like to see done?

HIRONO: I don’t know because, let’s face it, George, it’s a very complicated situation. Saudi Arabia is an ally, and so — yes, there are calls to do more, and I await the reassessment that Joe Biden is going to engage in, regarding Saudi Arabia, and the pause in arms sales, that I think hits Saudi Arabia, and I think that there will be more. I hope so.

WATCH:

Mazie Hirono in 2018:

"Trump yet again ignored our own intelligence community's assessment in Jamal Khashoggi's death, choosing to side with Mr. Khashoggi's murderers.”https://t.co/u4mS47dnLW

Mazie Hirono in 2021:

“It's a very complicated situation. Saudi Arabia is an ally" pic.twitter.com/GxC7VmUQw3

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) March 1, 2021

Hirono was not the only top Democrat to change their tune on the issue as President Joe Biden also has taken a much more measured approach to the issue versus remarks that he made while on the campaign trail.

During a Democrat primary debate in November 2019, Biden was asked by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell if he would hold those responsible for Khashoggi’s death responsible for what happened.

Here is the exchange [emphasis added]:

MITCHELL: Mr. Vice President, the CIA has concluded that the leader of Saudi Arabia directed the murder of U.S.-based journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The state department also says the Saudi government is responsible for executing nonviolent offenders and for torture. President Trump has not punished senior Saudi leaders. Would you?

BIDEN: Yes. And I said it at the time, Khashoggi was in fact murdered and dismembered, and I believe in the order of the Crown Prince. And I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them, we were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are. There’s very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia. And I would also, as pointed out, I would end subsidies that we have, end the sale of material to the Saudis — where they’re going in and murdering children and they’re murdering innocent people, and so they have to be held accountable.

The New York Times reported last week that Biden now is “fearing” the consequences of penalizing MBS.

“Biden has decided that the price of directly penalizing Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is too high, according to senior administration officials,” The Times reported. “Biden’s aides said that as a practical matter, Prince Mohammed would not be invited to the United States anytime soon, and they denied that they were giving Saudi Arabia a pass, describing series of new actions on lower-level officials intended to penalize elite elements of the Saudi military and impose new deterrents to human rights abuses.”