‘That Professional Athlete Is Also an American Citizen’: Karine Jean-Pierre Tangles with Doocy Over Prisoner Exchange
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did battle with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy over a prisoner exchange involving WNBA star Brittney Griner and a Russian arms dealer.
Conservatives have maligned the swap, which returns Griner to the United States after she was detained in Russia in February for possessing less than a gram of hash oil. In exchange, Russia received Viktor Bout, who was convicted in the U.S. in 2011 for conspiring to kill U.S. citizens.
During Thursday’s briefing, Doocy grilled Jean-Pierre over the development.
“In this prisoner swap, why did Russia get such a better deal?” the Fox News White House correspondent asked.
“Here were our choices,” she answered. “Our choices [were] Brittney or no one at all, bringing home one American or no American at all. And that’s–”
“And they gave up a professional athlete,” Doocy interrupted. “We gave up a prolific arms dealer who was convicted of trying to kill Americans, who is called the ‘Merchant of Death.'”
“The ‘professional athlete’ is also an American citizen,” Jean-Pierre shot back. “So let’s not forget that.”
Doocy noted that Paul Whelan, who is in Russian custody, is also an American citizen. Whelan is in prison in Russia for allegedly spying.
“I’ve been very clear on that,” she replied. “We’ve laid that out for you. And again, the president felt that this was an opportunity to bring Brittney home. He is going to continue to do everything he can to bring Paul Whelan home just like he did with Trevor Reed.”
“How can you say that he’s gonna do everything he can if he said just a few days ago he’s not gonna call Vladimir Putin until further notice?” Doocy queried.
“We were able to do this through different channels,” she responded. “And the president has been committed to getting this done. We are still working to secure Paul Whelan at this time. We were not able to make that happen, but that does not stop us, that will not stop us in making sure that Paul returns back home safely to his family.”
Watch above via Fox News.
