jeddah it took less than 24 hours in saudi arabia for us president joe biden to tarnish an image he has long cultivated that of a fierce defender of human rightsthe life of any politician is dotted with campaign pledges that ultimately backfire and for biden that list now includes his 2019 vow to make the desert kingdom a pariah over its human rights recordsimilarly his solemn description delivered last year on us independence day of washingtons role on the global stage we stand as a beacon to the worldit was difficult for many to reconcile those words with the singlemost searing image from bidens first visit to the middle east as president his fistbump with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salmanus intelligence officials believe the crown prince saudi arabias de facto leader approved the 2018 operation that led to the killing and dismemberment of journalist jamal khashoggitaken outside a palace in the red sea coastal city of jeddah the fistbump image was immediately distributed by official saudi news outlets before doing the rounds on social mediait eventually landed on the front page of the washington post where khashoggi was a contributing columnistprior to bidens arrival in jeddah the white house took several measures to try to mitigate blowback from an encounter it knew was comingbiden published a column in the post explaining his reasons for making the trip saying he wanted to strengthen a strategic partnership while insisting that fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when i travel abroadat the start of the tour which took him to jerusalem and bethlehem before jeddah his communications team said biden would limit physical contact with those he met citing coronavirus concernssome journalists immediately speculated that the measures which biden ended up not fully adhering to were motivated less by public health and more by fear of an awkward photoop with prince mohammed often referred to by his initials mbsin the end the firstbump in jeddah was worse than a handshake it was shameful the posts ceo fred ryan said in a statementit projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to mbs the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seekingthe travelling press corps wasnt present for the scene by the time they arrived at the palace in jeddah the two leaders had already gone insidebut soon the fistbump was inescapable broadcast on a seemingly constant loop by state media and saudi government social media accountswhite houseaccredited journalists faced further restrictions as biden held his meetings with the saudi leadershipthey were only allowed in briefly for a meeting of the american and saudi government delegations and they were kept some distance from the negotiating tablebrief statements from biden and prince mohammed were rendered inaudible as boom microphones were not permittedafter his meetings with saudi royals ended friday evening the white house hastily arranged for biden to deliver brief remarks and take a few questionsbiden told journalists he had raised the khashoggi case at the top of his