Former President Donald Trump torpedoed President Joe Biden for exchanging Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” for WNBA star Brittney Griner in a lopsided prisoner swap he called “crazy and bad.”
“I turned down a deal with Russia for a one on one swap of the so-called Merchant of Death for Paul Whelan,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
Whelan is a retired Marine who has been imprisoned in a Russian labor camp since 2018 on dubious espionage charges that he has strongly denied. He was in Russia to attend a wedding when he was detained.
“I wouldn’t have made the deal for a hundred people in exchange for someone that has killed untold numbers of people with his arms deals,” Trump said. “I would have gotten Paul out, however, just as I did with a record number of other hostages.”
The 45th president added: “The deal for Griner is crazy and bad. The taking wouldn’t have even happened during my Administration, but if it did, I would have gotten her out, fast!”
Griner was detained in February for drug possession and smuggling at a Moscow airport in violation of Russian law. She pleaded guilty to the charges at trial.
Whelan’s family and U.S. officials have accused Russia of fabricating the espionage charges to use him as a political bargaining chip, ABC News reported.
Bout, a Russian national, was convicted in 2011 of:
• Conspiring to kill Americans by supplying weapons to a Colombian terrorist group.
• Conspiring to kill U.S. officers and employees.
• Conspiring to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles.
• Conspiring to help a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Instead of doing a prisoner swap for a Marine who served his country, Biden pandered to black and LGBT voters by freeing Griner in exchange for an arms dealer who plotted to kill Americans.
The contrast between the two American prisoners speaks volumes about this president’s warped priorities: Griner is a Black Lives Matter supporter who protested the national anthem in 2020.
Russian news agency TASS publishes footage of the Brittney Griner/Viktor Bout exchange. pic.twitter.com/QmOItTEQ3O
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 8, 2022
Meanwhile, Whelan sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” every morning in his Russian prison cell.
“He gets up every morning and sings the national anthem, I think as much to irritate the guards as to keep his own morale up,” Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, told KTLA-TV.
Even some Democrats torched Biden for making the lopsided deal to swap an ingrate who refuses to respect the national anthem in exchange for a nefarious arms dealer.
Paul Whelan served as a cop in Michigan for 15 years.
Paul Whelan enlisted in the Marines in 1994.
Paul Whelan deployed to Iraq in 2004.
Paul Whelan is an American hero.
On December 28, 2018, Paul was accused of “espionage” in Russia⁰Jail ever since
Biden did NOTHING to free him pic.twitter.com/1SUqnhN9QQ— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 8, 2022
Fox News host Tucker Carlson summed it up best when he said last week that hating America gets rewarded by Biden.
“Well, you should know that Whelan is a Trump voter, and he made the mistake of saying so on social media. He’s paying the price for that now,” Carlson said on his Dec. 8 show. “Brittney Griner is not. She’s got very different politics.”
“Brittney Griner despises the United States. She’s been very vocal about that. This country is so repellent and immoral that two years ago she said: ‘I honestly feel we should not play the national anthem during our basketball season.’
Carlson continued: “She hates the country so much she doesn’t want to hear its anthem. That’s the kind of position that gets you rewarded by Joe Biden. ‘Hate America? Perfect. We’ll free the guy who sold weapons to drug cartels to get you out early.’”
As we enter Year 3 of Biden’s disastrous presidency, it clearer every day that he is unfit to lead — mentally, physically and morally.
Having him in the White House not only weakens the United States but also endangers the rest of the world.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
