On Thursday morning, the world got some huge news as WNBA star Brittney Griner was finally released from a Russian penal colony after nearly 10 months in Russian custody. The United States secured Griner’s release with a prisoner swap that sent Griner home in return for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was sent back to Russia. It was a huge move, but not everyone agreed with the decision, including former United States president Donald Trump, who absolutely blasted the trade.
In a post on his conservative social media website Truth Social, Donald Trump absolutely blasted Brittney Griner as well as Joe Biden‘s decision to have her released. Trump claimed that Griner “openly hates our Country” and that the trade was “a ‘stupid’ and unpatriotic embarrassment” for the country, suggesting that the United States should have secured the release of former United States marine Paul Whelan instead.
With these comments, however, Donald Trump exposed himself as a bit of a hypocrite, according to Andrew Feinberg of The Independent. Paul Whelan was imprisoned during Trump’s presidency, and Trump did nothing to secure his release, not even mentioning his name.
“Mr. Trump did not mention Mr. Whelan’s name a single time during the two years he was held in Russia on his watch, nor did he bring up the former US Marine during a 2019 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Feinberg wrote.
While Whelan is a former United States Marine, he has citizenship in four different countries and was dishonorably discharged from the Marines. While Whelan’s family understood Biden’s decision to have Griner released without him, he was still “extremely disappointed” at the move.
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