Former Vice President Mike Pence blasted the prisoner swap President Biden negotiated with Russia for the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner.
Pence said Friday on "America Reports" that during his tenure in the Trump administration, they were not in the business of an "uneven trade."
"You have to understand, we are constantly working to bring Americans home from captivity, but what we did in the Trump-Pence administration, was turn our diplomats loose and use the economic power of the United States to secure the freedom of those Americans," Pence said, touting the 2018 release of an American pastor from Turkey and hostages from North Korea.
BRITTNEY GRINER RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON IN SWAP FOR CONVICTED ARMS DEALER
President Biden said Thursday morning that Griner "represents the best of America," according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Griner was arrested in Russia in February after bringing vape cartridges containing cannabis oils through a Moscow airport.
On Thursday, nearly 10 months later, Griner was freed from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
"President Biden keeps his promises, and today he fulfilled a deeply important promise to bring Brittney Griner home to a family that loves her, a team that misses her, and a country that has marveled at her strength and courage," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Thursday. "Brittney’s safe return home is the product of months and months of painstaking negotiations that were the culmination of extraordinary efforts across the U.S. government."
BRITTNEY GRINER IS COMING HOME. WILL SHE STAND FOR THE ANTHEM NOW THAT SHE'S BACK IN THE USA?
The press secretary said officials from the White House, the State Department, and across the administration worked "tirelessly" to see Griner’s release.
Pence added that using the "economic power of the United States is the strength of our country to bring our people home."
"I think it’s highly unlikely that we would have even considered that trade, given the approach that we take. I just remember when we secured the release of Andrew Brunson, it was all about economic pressure that was brought to bear, literally what we communicated to [President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan], we were going to sanction individuals, individual industries, and members of his government if they didn’t release Andrew Brunson and at the end of the day he expedited him and pastor Brunson came home.
"Releasing a dangerous arms dealer at a time when Russia is propagating this unconscionable war in Ukraine, I think is unfortunate and ill-advised," he added, stressing that he's "glad" Griner is back home with her family.
Before her incarceration in Russia, Griner called for the WNBA to stop playing the National Anthem before games, and pledged to protest if it was played.
