Remember when conservative news outlets went into a tizzy at the start of Barack Obama’s presidency when he bent at the waist during a handshake with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah? Well it doesn’t seem that they’re quite as bothered by President Donald Trump also bending his head toward the Saudi king.
Trump stayed firmly vertical when he greeted the Saudi king on Saturday and many outlets were quick to call attention to that. Fox News was clear: “Trump shakes hands with Saudi leader, doesn’t bow as Obama appeared to do.” The Drudge Report also linked to it as an example of why America is “GREAT AGAIN.”
But then many of these same outlets ignored what looked like a clear bow when, later in the day, King Salman presented Tump with the King Abdulaziz al Saud Collar, the kingdom’s highest civilian honor. Some even suggested Trump curtsied before the king. Even as conservative outlets ignored it, Twitter had a field day pointing out the hypocrisy.
There was at least one of the president’s big-name backers who did not hide his feelings. “This makes me want to puke,” wrote Roger Stone on Twitter.
