Trump calls queer WNBA player Brittney Griner, currently incarcerated in Russia, ‘spoiled’ and people are (rightly) fuming

Former US President Donald Trump has angered pretty much every reasonable-minded person again, this time by defending Russia’s arrest of out WNBA player Brittney Griner

 

Out 31-year-old basketball player Brittney Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, has been incarcerated since February when she was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for being in possession of a small amount (less than a gram in two vape cartridges) of cannabis oil.

 

The two-time Olympic gold medallist, who is queer, is being tried on international drug-smuggling charges and could be sentenced to ten years in a penal colony.

 

The Biden administration has proposed trading Griner, along with detained US citizen and former marine Paul Whelan, for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S.

Whelan was a corporate security director who was arrested in 2018 in Russia and is serving a 16-year sentence for allegedly spying.

 

Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner. AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

 

Trump criticized the proposed deal, accusing Griner of being “loaded up on drugs” and calling her a “potentially spoiled person.”

 

During an appearance on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show”, he claimed:

“She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs. They don’t like drugs,” Trump said.

 

“And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out – and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess – and we’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world.”

 

Griner pled guilty at her trial in Khimki in July, adding that she accidentally packed the two oil cartridges.

“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” she told the court.

Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner. AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

 

Griner made a direct appeal to President Joe Biden, asking “please don’t forget about me” and to help get her out of Russia.

A handwritten letter, which was delivered to the White House on Monday read:

 

“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other detainees,” an excerpt released by the WNBA star’s representatives said. “Please do all you can to bring us home.”

“I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore.”

 

“I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home,” Griner wrote.

A representative for Griner said they would not release the entire letter or detail how it got from Griner’s jail cell outside Moscow to the White House.

 

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough was one of the many to react angrily to the remarks from Trump, saying:

 

“We have Donald Trump calling Brittney Griner ‘spoiled,’ and we have Donald Trump talking about her, quote, ‘loaded up with drugs.’ There’s been no testimony, no evidence, no suggestion that she was, quote, ‘loaded up with drugs’,” he said on Monday morning.

“It once again shows just what a terrible guy this is, what a heinous human being. How cruel it is. And you cannot help but wonder if he’s saying that because she’s a black basketball player,” the former Congressman then added, echoing the thoughts of pretty much all of us.

 

Meanwhile many on social media were quick to point out that the MAGA crowd, since Griner’s arrest, have made quite the big deal on  Twitter of saying things like, “Trump would have got her out by now”, then blaming Joe Biden for her continued detainment.

A suggestion we can now pretty reasonably confirm to not be true.

 

Here is what some folk are saying on Twitter, below:

Support us

As a new and independent LGBTQ+ publication, we rely on support to keep the lights on. We really appreciate anything you can afford - it helps keep us active, afloat and free to all. If you got something from the site today, why not buy us a coffee?

Latest

You might be intersted in...