Let’s first tick through Joe Biden‘s scapegoats for his intentionally created energy crisis which of course led to skyrocketing gas prices. First, Joe steadfastly blamed Vladimir Putin, then, oil companies’ “profiteering.” Next up, high pump prices on station owners “price gouging,” and finally — and most hilariously — the GOP.

That pretty much sums it up.

Wait — except for MNSBC mastermind sleuth Ali Velshi, who singlehandedly uncovered a brilliantly sinister Saudi Arabia plot to cut back on oil production to force up U.S. gas prices, just in time to boost Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. One can only imagine what the Saudis will come up with to help the GOP prior to the 2024 presidential election. Total sarcasm, of course. Besides, we’re talking about Ali Velshi.

As reported by NewsBusters, Velshi guest-hosted MSNBC’s The Last Word on Thursday, and argued that the Saudis are getting closer to the Russians as part of an anti-democracy partnership,

OPEC+, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have not condemned Putin’s war. Russia has never condemned Saudi Arabia’s invasion of Yemen. These are just facts. I’m going to close with one more fact: gas prices move the needle in American elections, and democracy’s on the ballot in 33 days in America. 33 days. If democracy loses in America, what chance does it have in Ukraine or in the Middle East? Who wants democracy to win? Who wants it to lose?

Huh?

After introducing New York Times political reporter Nicholas Kristof and political scientist Peter Beinart to his Saudi conspiracy theory, Beinart at first seemed hesitant to buy into Velshi’s argument, but the more he talked the clearer it became that he was all in. 

There may have been more than one motivation. It might have been that they were genuinely afraid that a recession would push the price of oil down. But as you laid out, it’s certainly the case that the Saudis would rather have the Trump-era Republican Party, and indeed the Trump family in power than the Biden Administration and Democrats.

Beinart’s point was valid, depending on how one looks at it. US-Saudi ties were especially close under Trump, in part due to the former president’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran — the Saudis’ arch-enemy.

Trump granted multiple “favors” for the kingdom, most notably all but ignoring intelligence reports that pointed the finger squarely at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the gruesome murder of U.S. resident and contributing Washington Post global opinions columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as reported by the Washington Post in February 2021.

In contrast, Biden vowed in 2019 to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” but after singlehandedly destroying America’s energy independence, he began begging the Saudis to increase oil production capacity. However, earlier this week, Saudi Arabia and Russia announced a historic decrease in production of 2 million barrels per day. Nice job, Joe. All the way around.

Finally, Beinart went bottom-line in his opinion about why the Saudis would prefer Trump in the White House, again.

The Trump Administration [was] easier to buy. The Trump Administration — and the Saudis have already started to do that. They have made huge investments in Trump’s own wallet [and] in Jared Kushner’s wallet. They’ve also invested big money in Steve Mnuchin’s investment fund, the former Treasury secretary.

And they have clear evidence from Trump’s first term that virtually nothing that they could do would lead him to decide that the United States shouldn’t put pressure on Saudi Arabia. So, why would they not essentially want Republicans to do better in these midterm elections?

Great question. Why should the Saudis prefer Republicans in control of Congress and a Republican president in the White House?

I’ll leave it there. Let the debate begin in the comment section — but please don’t break the furniture.