Oh Damn, Joe Biden Is Bringing Brittney Griner Home

Wonderful news to wake up to.

Well good morning to the Biden administration, which has apparently figured out how to do some diplomacy with the world's vilest, most garbage national leader.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released, just weeks after she was transferred to a Russian penal colony. In exchange, we gave Russia an arms dealer named Viktor Bout. We can't wait to read all the hot takes from conservative white Americans about why ACTUALLY that guy was too dangerous to prisoner swap and we should have just left the Black lesbian to rot in a Russian labor camp instead.

 Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealerViktor Bout, CBS News learned early Thursday from a U.S. official. The one-for-one exchange agreement negotiated with Moscow in recent weeks was given final approval by President Biden within just the last week, according to sources familiar with the deal. The swap, first reported by CBS News, took place on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.

This morning President Biden was awake in the Oval Office bright and early with Vice President Kamala Harris and Griner's wife Cherelle, and they've been in contact with Brittney, who will be medically evaluated and so forth.

“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”

— President Biden (@President Biden) 1670505284 

President Biden spoke this morning to announce the news. He said Griner is in good spirits. Cherelle also talked. It was pretty great.

 youtu.be 

We mentioned that we are excited about hot takes from MAGA trash about how this particular Russian criminal Viktor Bout is too valuable to trade for Griner. And we say that because we are. Those will be some really good and well-formed opinions from thoughtful people. And we know they'll be coming because Donald Trump has already spent time trashing the idea of trading Griner for Bout, because of how Trump is a racist piece of human excrement.

Here's what he told some MAGA radio hacks back in the summer:

She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs. They don’t like drugs. And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out — and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. Killed many Americans. Killed many people. And he’s gonna get a free card and we’re gonna get her. She knew you don’t go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it. I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is, and it certainly doesn’t seem like a very good trade, does it? He’s absolutely one of the worst in the world, and he’s gonna be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs.

Go fuck yourself, traitor.

TRAITOR:  Trump Pretty Sure US Should Let ‘Spoiled’ Brittney Griner Rot In Russian Prison 

In the months leading up to this, there had been talk that the White House wanted to trade Bout for both Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who's been in prison in Russia for four years on espionage charges the US government says are bullshit. Apparently part of the breakthrough came when the proposal turned into each country returning one prisoner. We also look forward to the MAGA trash hot takes that Donald Trump would have definitely been able to get both prisoners back. (Can't imagine what he might have given Vladimir Putin in return.)

Of course, the Biden administration also completed a successful prisoner swap back in April for former Marine Trevor Reed. Hopefully the Whelan situation can be sorted ASAP. Biden said this morning that Russia is "sadly" treating the Paul Whelan case "differently" from Griner's, for bullshit reasons, but he personally guaranteed in his address this morning that they aren't giving up on that one.

CBS News has much, much more on the negotiations that led to today's historic events. For today let's just be happy for Brittney Griner and her wife and be glad we have a president who gives a shit.

[ CBS News ]

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