Former President Bill Clinton praised the United Arab Emirates and its ambassador to the United States on Tuesday for being the "face of social justice for poor people around the world."
Clinton was speaking in Washington, D.C. at the InterAction Forum when he made the remarks. Clinton mentioned UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba.
"I want to recognize especially Ambassador Al Otaiba from the UAE. Thank you for being here" Clinton said. "They are now the number-one ranked country in the world in percentage of their GDP that goes to assistance."
"We've been friends a long time and when I met him he was a dashing young man, and I never thought he would become the benign face of social justice for poor people around the world," Clinton continued.
The UAE has a negative human rights record, however. Human Rights Watch has been critical of the Middle Eastern country, criticizing its respect for free speech, peaceful dissidence, and abuse of migrant workers.
The UAE does have connections to the Clintons; the country has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, as the NTK Network pointed out.