The biggest news in the sports and current events worlds on Thursday was the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a penal colony in Russia. Her freedom comes as the result of a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States.
Several media pundits began debating the logic of the decision immediately after President Joe Biden announced at a press conference that Griner was coming home and in exchange, Viktor Bout, a terrorist nicknamed “The Merchant of Death,” would be returning to Russia. Dan Le Batard isn’t going to participate in those conversations.
“I’m not interested in arguing the politics of this, whether it was a fair trade or if Biden did the right thing soon enough,” said on his show Thursday.
He added that while members of the media are pointing fingers and making accusations about why Brittney Griner is coming home and a former servicemember is not, the family of former Marine Paul Whelan is happy to see Griner released. The family released a statement Thursday morning saying that while they are disappointed that Whelan remains detained in Russia, they “do not begrudge” Griner or her wife.
“The Whelan family, that has more invested there than any of us, is saying ‘we are happy any time a wrongfully detained person can get to freedom,’” Le Batard said.
He added that he is also disappointed that Whelan remains a prisoner in Russia, but there was no perfect scenario that would result in everyone’s release and the United States not having to give something up.
“Hostage crises are tough. Getting people home [is] tough. I can’t swim in these waters. I don’t know what it takes to get a prisoner released. I can just be happy that Brittney Griner is coming home and is no longer being used as that political tool wrongly detained.”
