Russian state media laughed at the Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout prisoner swap during a live panel discussion. A nearly three-minute clip from the discussion surfaced on social media and has gone viral. The person who appears to be the primary host, a woman, discussed the details of the prisoner swap. Her focus was not on the logistics of the physical exchange itself. She focused on the background of all of the parties involved.
The most alarming thing about the discussion was the comparison between Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. The original prisoner swap was supposed to be Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner. Whelan was left behind in order to secure Griner. She described Griner as a black lesbian drug addict who was simply popular for athletics as a WNBA basketball player. The woman framed Paul Whelan as a hero Marine who was arrested for spying while serving his “father country” (the United States). She also stated that he has three main things against him… the fact that he is white, male, and heterosexual.
So to have the “hero” Marine left to rot in a Russian prison while the drug-addict basketball player gets set free is pretty embarrassing for the United States. Especially when this was done purely for optics and not national security or anything of a truly serious nature. Everyone on the Russian state media panel laughed throughout the entire discussion.
SOURCES:
Barrington Martin II on Twitter: “Please watch this. This is what other countries think of our leadership. Damning. https://t.co/5sm7J6jtYb” / Twitter
Paul Whelan: The strange case of the ex-marine jailed for spying in Russia – BBC News
