Former President Donald Trump slammed Thursday the prisoner exchange that freed U.S. women's basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison, calling it an "unpatriotic embarrassment."
President Joe Biden signed off on the deal to free Griner, who was sent to a Russian penal colony after being convicted of drug possession in August, for convicted Russian arms trafficker and terrorist Viktor Bout, known as "The Merchant of Death."
Left behind in Russia was Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine imprisoned in 2020 on espionage charges. The U.S. considers Whelan wrongfully detained.
"What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our Country, for the man known as 'The Merchant of Death,' who is one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the World, and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
He was referencing Griner's stance at the height of the George Floyd protests against not playing the national anthem at WNBA games and vow to walk off the court should it be played.
"Why wasn't former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction?" Trump wrote. "He would have been let out for the asking. What a "stupid" and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!"
The Biden administration said because of the nature of the espionage charges against Whelan, Russia treated his case differently than Griner's."When you're trading the 'Merchant of Death' ... you should at least bring home at least more than one American," Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Thursday, adding the Biden White House "prioritized" Griner over Whelan and another detained American, history teacher Marc Fogel.
via newsmax