It Sure Looks Like Joe Biden Is Trying to Blackmail Saudi Arabia to Interfere in the 2022 Election

If you were alive during the Trump era, there was one phrase you probably grew tired of hearing: Quid pro quo.

For months on end, non-stop “quid pro quo” coverage dominated the news as Trump was accused of holding up military aid to Ukraine in order to secure an investigation into Hunter Biden’s corruption in the country. Eventually, that led to one of the more farcical impeachments in history, with no actual direct evidence of Trump being involved in said “quid pro quo.”

I bring good news, though: Quid pro quos are good again. Well, at least if you are Joe Biden because it sure looks like he is trying to enact one in order to save the Democratic Party from excess pain in November. According to Saudi Arabia, the president is attempting to get to the Kingdom to postpone a cut in oil production by a month, conveniently putting it off until after the mid-term elections.

If postponing an oil production cut until after the election is the quid, what is the pro? Apparently, Biden is using long-established arms sales as a way to try to blackmail the Saudis, who are a US ally, into doing what he wants. According to CNN, Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Advisor, the White House is “examining” all parts of the US relationship with the Saudis after the rejection, including stopping arms sales.

President Joe Biden will examine all aspects of US ties with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales, as administration officials begin quiet discussions with members of Congress and congressional aides about how the US could impose consequences on the kingdom following the kingdom’s decision to partner with Russia in cutting oil production.

The mention of Russia is a cheap attempt to obscure what Biden is doing. Russia is a member of OPEC+. That is not a new development, and the Saudis are only one country of 23 that make decisions regarding the oil cartel. In other words, there is no nefarious collusion going on here. There is only the operation of a long-standing agreement.

And while the White House is now trying to act as if Saudi Arabia is anti-Ukraine, that isn’t true either. The Saudis voted for the UN resolution to protect Ukraine and reiterated support for the respect of sovereign borders in their latest statement.

As Ben Shapiro noted in response, all of this adds up to something we were assured was impeachable just a few years ago.

Of course, you can expect the answer to be that it’s (D)ifferent this time. Sure, Biden is trying to use the US foreign policy apparatus regarding an ally to secure a politically advantageous outcome that would benefit his political party. And yeah, that politically advantageous outcome is on a clearly manufactured timeline meant to interfere in the 2022 election. But hey, Ukraine invaded Russia, so we can’t possibly hold him to the same standard Trump was held to. That would be crazy.

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