Social media users called out MSNBC anchor Katie Phang after she claimed that former President Trump failed to free several Americans imprisoned in Russia, given that some of them were taken after he left office.
Two of the three American citizens and a U.S. green card holder who were freed in a prison swap between the United States and Russia on Thursday were detained during the Biden administration. Despite this, Phang took the opportunity to criticize Trump for "never" bringing them home. One user called out the flimsy charge, which prompted Phang to double down.
"You got a problem with it? Take it up with Trump, who, again, didn’t bring them home. President Biden did," Phang stated on the social media platform Thursday.
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Three American citizens – Wall Street Journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — were freed from Russian custody along with one American green-card holder, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and a dozen others, on Thursday. Whelan was arrested by Russia on spying charges in 2018, when Trump was in office.
Despite Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Kara-Murza all being imprisoned while Biden was in office, the president slammed Trump during a White House press conference on Thursday announcing their return home. Biden criticized Trump for not securing their release during his presidency.
A reporter asked Biden, "President Trump has said repeatedly that he could’ve gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange. What do you say to that?"
"Why didn’t he do it when he was president?" Biden shot back before exiting the room. The president’s retort delighted members of the press. CNN anchor Dana Bash called it a "mic drop moment" from the president, while Phang ran with his claim on X.
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The MSNBC anchor shared the clip of Biden’s retort, and commented, "#truth Trump repeatedly said he could bring them home. He never did."
A conservative X account slammed the journalist, commenting, "Must you demonstrate your hackiness every single day? Two of the three Americans were wrongfully detained during Biden's presidency. It's good to see our lame-duck president being, well… lame."
Phang replied to the user, defending her point. "Trump never conditioned his ability to return any American hostage on being President. You got a problem with it? Take it up with Trump, who, again, didn’t bring them home. President Biden did."
Another user made the same criticism of Phang’s original statement, saying, "Only one of them was in custody when [Trump] was President."
