Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, argued Tuesday for maintaining a close diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia, despite the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, because “journalists disappear all over the country.”

“We have to have a relationship with some players that we don’t agree with,” Stewart told CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty journalists have been killed in Mexico. You don’t think it’s happened in Turkey and China? Of course it does, and yet we have to have a relationship with these individuals— or with these countries.”

.@RepChrisStewart argues for maintaining a diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia: "Journalists disappear all over the country." pic.twitter.com/s0ifKjav0g — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 4, 2018

H/t Mediaite.