Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo lashed out Tuesday at Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, asking "Do you do business with a killer?" amid allegations missing dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated.
During an interview of Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., on "Mornings With Maria," Bartiromo called out the young Saudi leader — even as she is scheduled to speak at Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative conference later this month.
"It just feels like it flies right in the face of this expectation that this was the guy to modernize Saudi Arabia," she said of Salman.
After King questioned whether Khashoggi should be considered a journalist or an activist, Bartiromo shot back: "It doesn't matter what he is, we're talking about human rights."
"The question becomes: Do you do business with a killer?" she asked.
The Oct. 23-25 conference has lost media partners in the wake of Khashoggi's disappearance — including CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Nikkei, and The Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter noted.
Several other prominent speakers from the worlds of media and finance, including Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, have also dropped out. THR reported.
Fox News is the only U.S. media outlet still planning to attend.
On her show, Bartiromo also dismissed Saudi Arabia's explanation Khashoggi was killed inadvertently after a failed interrogation.
"I just want to get this straight: If the Saudis were interrogating him, and then it was an interrogation gone wrong, and they killed him, is that supposed to make everybody feel better?" Bartiromo asked King.
"Why were they interrogating this guy? And why did they need 15 people from Saudi to get on a private jet to go interrogate him?"
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