Social media users have blasted MSNBC anchor Katie Pan for claiming that former President Trump failed to free several Americans imprisoned in Russia, some of whom were taken after he left office.
Two of the three Americans and one U.S. green card holder released in a prison swap between the U.S. and Russia on Thursday were detained during the Biden administration.
Nevertheless, Pan used the opportunity to criticize Trump for “never” letting them return home, an accusation that was so unfounded that one user denounced it, prompting Pan to double down.
“Is there a problem? You can appeal to Trump. Again, Trump did not bring them home. President Biden did,” Pan said on the social media platform on Thursday.
Three Americans — Wall Street journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Arus Kurmasheva — were released from Russian custody on Thursday, along with American green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza and 12 others. Whelan was arrested by Russia on espionage charges in 2018, when Donald Trump was president.
Although Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and Kara Murza were all imprisoned during Biden’s presidency, President Biden announced their return at a White House press conference on Thursday and blasted President Trump.
Biden criticized Trump for failing to secure their release during his presidency.
The reporter asked Biden, “President Trump has repeatedly said he was able to rescue the hostages without giving anything in return. What do you think about that?”
“Why didn’t you do that when you were president?” Biden retorted as he left the room. The president’s retort delighted reporters, with CNN host Dana Bash calling it the president’s “mic drop moment,” while Pan echoed X’s point.
MSNBC anchor Sharing a video of Biden’s rebuttal, he commented, “#TruthTrump repeatedly said he could bring them home. He never did.”
Conservative X account slammed the journalist, commenting, “Do you have to demonstrate your incompetence every day? Two out of three Americans have been wrongfully detained during Biden’s presidency. It’s a good thing our lame-duck president is, well, incompetent.”
Pan responded to the user, defending his claim: “Trump has never made being president a condition for the return of American hostages. Does that matter? Ask Trump. Again, Trump did not return the hostages to their home countries. President Biden did.”
Another user made a similar criticism of Fan’s original statement, saying “only one person was in custody at the time of the arrest.” [Trump] He was the president.”
