Biden Spox Won’t Trash Trump When Confronted With Whelan Brother’s Claim He ‘Wasn’t Interested’ In Freeing Paul

Biden NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby refused to trash former President Donald Trump when asked about comments from David Whelan that Trump “wasn’t interested” in Paul Whelan’s case.

Mr. Whelan recently told MSNBC’s Zinhle Essamuah that President Joe Biden’s administration is “much more engaged” than Trump’s was in seeking the release of wrongfully imprisoned Americans like his brother, and that “the Trump administration was not prepared to or not interested in” working on such cases.

And this past weekend, Former Trump National Security Council official Fiona Hill similarly told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan that Trump “was not particularly interested” in Whelan’s case, and that Kirby held an on-the-record briefing with reporters via Zoom on Wednesday morning, during which he was asked about the recent comments by Mr. Whelan and Fiona Hill, but refused to criticize the former administration, and instead praised the Whelan family:

TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: Both David Whelan and Fiona Hill have said that then-President Trump was not particularly interested in securing Paul Whelan’s release and that President Biden has been much more engaged. I’m wondering if you can say, how does that jibe with what you inherited from the last administration, what you’ve heard from career officials? What’s your reaction to that?

JOHN KIRBY: Well, I mean, we can kind of talk about that just a few minutes ago. I’m not going to speak for the previous administration or what they did or didn’t do in the conversations they did or didn’t have.

All I can tell you is that it has been a primary focus for President Biden to get to secure the release and to bring back home Americans who are unjustly detained, wrongfully detained overseas. And we’ve obviously done that with Brittney Griner. We did that with Mr. Reid, and we’ve done it with many others that we’ve been able to secure the release of. And that’s going to be the case with Mr. Whelan.

As I just mentioned, we worked really hard over the last weeks and months to try to get Mr. Whelan released and wanted him released with Ms. Griner. Unfortunately, that just was not possible because of the way the Russians are treating them. So informed by that context, we’re going to just continue to stay at it, including this week, still at it with the Russians to try to get to try to get Paul home. And we’re not going to be afraid to, again, armed with the information in the context of the last several months about how they treat him separately. We’re not going to be afraid to get created. We’re not going to be afraid to be innovative in terms of trying to find other proposals that might secure his release. So, again, I won’t speak to the previous administration.

You didn’t ask this, but I do feel compelled to say it anyway. The grace and the dignity and poise with which the entire Whalen family have handled this is just remarkable. When you think about the fact that he’s been locked up for four years on ridiculous sham charges. And despite repeated efforts to get him released. We’ve just not been able to find that. We haven’t been able to click in that right deal. The fact that they haven’t given up hope on us, and they certainly haven’t given up hope on Paul. Paul hasn’t given up hope on himself. And just the poise and grace with which they are continuing to to to face the situation they’re in. It truly is something, something apart. And I think, I think every American, regardless of who you vote for, can look at the Whelan family and be justifiably proud that they are, in fact, Americans. And that’s the approach that we’re, that’s what’s inspiring, the approach we’re taking to try to get going.

Watch above via Mediaite.

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