At a meeting in Manhattan last night of a conservative, pro-Israel group, Anthony Weiner criticized President Obama for bowing to the leader of the Saudi royal family, according to Ira Stoll, the former New York Sun editor.
Here is how Stoll, who attended the event, described Weiner’s comments to me in an email: “He said that until Saudi Arabia changed its behavior it shouldn’t be hand-held by president Bush or ‘bowed to by president Obama.’ ‘They are not our friends,’ Weiner said of the Saudi royals.”
Weiner was referring to Obama’s meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during last months’ G-20 meeting in London. Obama’s aides at the time denied it was a bow. Here’s a clip of the incident.
Weiner also told the crowd, “I’ve canceled my Times subscription so many times I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Last night’s meeting, hosted by the New York of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East in America–a pro-Israel group that lobbies media outlets about coverage–is described in more detail by Stoll over here, at NYSun.com.
(Yes–it’s the site of the newspaper he used to edit. Stoll said the domain name was purchased by the former publisher, Seth Lipsky and currently features occasional items from people like Amanda Gordon, who continues covering the society and charity beat, and the excellent young reporter Russell Berman, who apparently wasn’t banished from the conservative spreadsheet after Maureen Dowd praised him.)
