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The Internet Has Successful Jokes About the Saudi King’s Golden Escalator Fail

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Some people fly first class. Some people have private jets. And then there’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who flies private — and then continues the luxe experience using his own customized golden escalator, on which he can disembark when the plane touches down.

But King Salman’s landing in Moscow this week did not quite have the powerful impact he may have hoped for after the escalator malfunctioned, causing the 81-year-old royal to have to descend the steps on his own steam instead of via gilded machinery.

Notably, this is the first time a Saudi monarch has visited Russia for official business, the Guardian reports, and Saudi Arabia’s long-reigning head of state — also known as His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques — was in town to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Regardless of the momentousness of the occasion, the internet has thoughts on King Salman’s awkward mechanical misstep.

 

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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com