Twitter CEO Elon Musk criticized President Joe Biden’s prisoner swap Friday morning, saying the president should not have left former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan behind.
WNBA star Brittney Griner was released Thursday from a Russian penal colony in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, also known as the “Merchant of Death.”
The trade has come under fire as Whelan, who has been held in Russian detention since 2018, was not released.
“Does it surprise anyone the Biden regime would leave a Marine behind after they abandoned Americans in Afghanistan,” one user wrote Thursday.
Musk responded to the tweet, saying “Never leave a marine behind. Never.”
Never leave a marine behind. Never.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Griner was arrested in February after authorities at a Russian airport allegedly caught her with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and smuggling in July, and received a sentence of nine years in a Russian penal colony in August.
Former President Donald Trump allegedly rejected a deal to trade Bout for Whelan when the latter was detained in 2018, former national security advisor John Bolton said.
“The possibility of a Bout-for-Whelan trade existed back then,” Bolton said. “It wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout.”
Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy said Biden got “fleeced” after trading Bout for Griner in a video posted to Twitter on Thursday. (RELATED: ‘Get Me Home Regardless Of The Price’: Paul Whelan Speaks Out, Says Not Enough Has Been Done To Free Him)
“This trade feels like a PR stunt,” Portnoy said, questioning whether Whelan might have been freed if there had been more celebrities speaking out about his imprisonment.
NFL star Micah Parsons also criticized the trade deal, saying “Wait nah!! We left a marine? Hell nah.”