Conservatives blast Biden over Brittney Griner release, complaining he ‘left behind’ man imprisoned during Trump presidency

Mr Whelan was taken captive and convicted during the Trump administration

Russia has agreed to release former WNBA player Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap with the US. While Griner’s fans and loved ones are celebrating, there are some people who are upset by the developments, and they all just so happen to ideologically oppose Joe Biden.

Republicans — both lawmakers and media figures — took to social media to explain why Griner’s release was either unfair or a grave mistake.

Senator John Cornyn initially praised the Biden administration for freeing Griner, though noted that he was "disappointed" that the president could not secure the release of other US prisoners abroad like ex-Marine Paul Whelan and Austin Tice.

Mr Whelan, 52, was detained in Russia in 2018 and was convicted on espionage charges in 2020. He has been in a penal colony since his conviction. Conservatives used his continued incarceration to fuel their criticisms of the Biden administration.

"What about retired marine who has been unjustly detained for years, Paul Whelan?" Congressman Adam Kinzinger asked on Twitter. "Surely an arms dealer is worth two innocent people?"

Congressman Robert Aderholt made a similar complaint, saying that it is "always good to have an American released from adversarial hands," but claimed the "Biden Administration has left a United States Marine behind."

"We cannot stop fighting for the release of Paul Whelan and any Americans ever illegally detained," he wrote.

Senator Lindsey Graham had the same message.

"While we appreciate and celebrate the release of Brittney Griner from a Russian penal colony … we must not lose focus on the fact that Paul Whelan remains unjustly held in Russia," he wrote.

Mr Graham said that it is a "bitter pill to swallow that Mr Whelan remains in custody while we release the ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout back to Russia."

Bout is a convicted arms merchant who conspired to kill Americans and whose criminal activity served as inspiration for the film Lord of War. He earned the nickname "Merchant of Death" for his numerous weapons sales to dangerous actors across the globe.

The release of Bout has also been a contentious point for those critical of Mr Biden.

Benny Johnson, a 35-year-old man who hosts a show called The Left Can’t Meme on right-wing social media app Parler, compared Griner to Mr Whelan, showing a photo of the Black woman in handcuffs alongside a photo of Mr Whelan in his Marine dress uniform from decades ago.

"Guess which one Biden traded a terrorist to free?" he asked.

Mr Biden noted Mr Whelan during a press conference announcing Griner’s release, saying that for "illegitimate reasons" Russia is treating Mr Whelan’s case different and would not release him as part of the prisoner swap. He said that his administration would "never stop" trying to bring Mr Whelan home.

"On December 28, 2018, Paul was accused of ‘espionage’ in Russia. Jail ever since. Biden did NOTHING to free him," Mr Johnson claimed in a Twitter post.

What Mr Johnson, Mr Graham and the other detractors do not mention is that Mr Biden was not president when Mr Whelan was taken into custody, nor was he president when Mr Whelan was convicted and sentenced to prison. Donald Trump was president.

Mr Whelan appealed directly to Mr Trump in 2019 to help him, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"Mr President, we cannot keep America great unless we aggressively protect American citizens wherever they are in the world," Mr Whelan told Russian reporters from inside the glass security box of a Moscow courtroom.

Moscow had offered the Trump administration a trade — they wanted imprisoned Russians, including Bout, to be freed in exchange for Mr Whelan, according to The New Yorker. The administration refused the trade.

"Trump clearly had no interest in doing anything," a former senior US official told the publication.

Mr Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, was also vocal on social media after the deal was announced. In a series of tweets, he claimed it would encourage other nations to take American hostages in hopes of negotiating prisoner swaps.

“How long till other countries realize that they too can take total advantage of the United States and get whatever lopsided trade they could want by simply kidnapping, harassing, and wrongfully imprisoning Americans abroad?” he wrote.

Prisoner swaps are not a new negotiation tactic; the US has engaged in detainee trades since at least 1962, and numerous times since. Michael White, a US Navy veteran who was imprisoned in Iran, was released after the Trump administration negotiated a prisoner swap with Tehran in 2018. Mr Trump celebrated the release at the time, and his son had no criticism of the optics then.

Mr Whelan’s family are not among the detractors. The family was warned ahead of time of Griner’s release and, while disappointed Mr Whelan was not able to be included in the deal, said they did not "begrudge her freedom,” according to NBC News.

"It is so important to me that it is clear that we do not begrudge Ms Griner her freedom," David Whelan, Mr Whelan’s brother, said. "As I have often remarked, Brittney’s and Paul’s cases were never really intertwined. It has always been a strong possibility that one might be freed without the other."

A senior US official speaking with the outlet said the Biden administration pushed for both Mr Whelan and Griner to be released in exchange for Bout. Moscow refused, offering Ms Griner or no deal.