During an interview with the Cable News Network's Fareed Zakaria in India on Tuesday, Barack Obama avoided directly addressing the severe punishment of 1,000 lashes -- 50 at a time -- received by Raif Badawi, a blogger who criticized the government of Saudi Arabia even though that nation has been a longtime ally of the U.S.

When asked by Zakaria why Saudi Arabia remains a close partner with America and the next stop on the president's international tour despite its poor civil rights record, the Democratic occupant of the White House responded: