Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Tuesday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is "the original El Chapo," referring to the drug kingpin.
"Prince Mohammed, he really was the original el Chapo, literally," Kennedy told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday.
El Chapo is the name for Mexican suspected drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. He became the most powerful drug kingpin in Mexico in 2003, when Prince Mohammed was still in school and years before he entered politics.
"I think Prince Mohammed gave the order, or at least he new about it, to butcher [Jamal] Khashoggi," Kennedy added.
CIA Director Gina Haspel met with several members of Senate leadership in a closed-door meeting Tuesday. Afterward, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said they were sure Prince Mohammed ordered Khashoggi's murder.
"Lindsey Graham is right, we don't have to choose between power and principle," Sen. Kennedy told Fox News. "What we have to do is figure out a way to punish the hell out of Saudi Arabia without blowing up the Middle East."
Kennedy said the "best revenge" would be to "become energy independent . . . then we won't have to depend on any of these countries in the Middle East for oil."
"With the exception of Israel, all of the leaders in the Middle East are pirates," the senator said. "We settle dispute with elections, they settle them with executions."
He added, "and as long as they leave Israel alone and don't get nuclear weapons, they can do what they want to for each other, and I think that's the way most Americans feel."
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