After WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russian custody after months of being held in the country on drug charges, The view strained the prisoner exchange that made her release possible. During tonight’s show, the co-hosts — who were all thrilled with the news, especially after hosting Griner’s wife as a guest earlier this season — discussed the ethics of the swap, stressing that another American prisoner, Paul Whelan, always still in Russian remains captivity.
Joy Behar started the conversation by talking about Viktor Bout, the arms dealer released in a one-for-one prisoner swap that freed Griner. Bout, whose life inspired 2005 The Lord of Warserved 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill Americans, per CNN.
“I think they traded her for a really bad guy,” Behar said, referring to Bout before adding, “He’s very much in league with Putin. … Putin is doing something so devastating in Ukraine that even the Russians are turning against him. So that makes him look like a tough guy, and he’s done something for the country. I think something like that happens.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who called the news of Griner’s release “incredible,” emphasized that “it’s always good news when an American comes home from a false imprisonment abroad,” but put the ethics of using bout in Question.
“The only thing I want to emphasize here is that I think it’s a good thing and we should celebrate it. But it’s not an equal exchange,” Griffin said. “This is a man who conspired and conspired against the Americans to kill them. He’s called the “dealer of death” because he was basically someone who travels the world collecting guns and then brings them back to Russia. He will be a blessing in the fight against Ukraine. And it’s a major national victory for Putin right now, at his weakest point in decades.
“So that’s what makes me pause here,” she said, before explaining her stance on prisoner exchanges in general after Sunny asked Hostin how she felt about the practice.
“I’m always torn. I’m not quite in George Bush’s “never negotiate with terrorists” because sometimes you have to. But you have to make sure that it doesn’t pose too much of a risk for the homeland, and I fear that this is someone who will one day have the blood of Ukrainians or Americans on their hands.”
Whelan, the American prisoner who remains in Russian custody, has been held in the country for four years on espionage charges he claims are false. Whelan told CNN he was “happy” with Griner’s release but “disappointed” with the Biden administration’s efforts in his own case.
President Joe Biden said so in a shared clip during a White House press briefing today The view, “We have not forgotten Paul Whelan, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Russia for years. This was not a choice of which American to bring home.”
The view airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. Watch the full Griner segment in the video above.