Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02) wasn’t shy on Thursday when asked to opine on the merits of a Biden Administration deal to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death.”
“To release this ‘merchant of death,’ who was involved with terrorism and actually supporting terrorism in the United States, whose goal is to kill Americans and to kill those in American authority is unbelievable,” Van Drew told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.”
“It’s smart on Russia’s part because they arrested somebody for an extremely minor crime, and then they exchange them, and what they get is literally the “Merchant of Death” back in the safety of their country,” Van Drew added. “This was a horrible exchange.”
“This is a president every step of the way who hasn’t shown the right initiatives for so many of the problems we have,” continued Van Drew. “This is embarrassing to America, and it’s shameful to this Marine and his family, and our military. No wonder we’re having fewer people apply to the military than ever before — because they know they shouldn’t be treated this way. They should be treated with honor and dignity, and we should be doing everything we can to get [U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan] out.”
