Tucker Carlson claims Joe Biden wants Paul Whelan to remain imprisoned in Russia because he's white

Carlson: “Whelan is a Trump voter and he made the mistake of saying so on social media. He's paying the price that now”

Video file

Citation

From the December 8, 2022, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight 

TUCKER CARLSON (GUEST): So at this point, we can assume the obvious, the Biden administration chose Brittney Griner over Paul Whelan. The basketball player over the Marine facing 16 years. There was only room for one in the lifeboat, and the Marine got left behind. 

Well, why'd they make that choice? Well, you should know that Whelan is a Trump voter and he made the mistake of saying so on social media. He's paying the price that now. Brittney Griner is not. She has very different politics. Brittney Griner despises the United States, she's been very vocal about that. This country is so repellant and immoral that two years ago she said "I honestly feel we should not play the national anthem during our basketball season."

She hates the country so much she doesn't want to hear its anthem. That's the kind of position that gets you rewarded by Joe Biden. Hate America? Perfect. We'll free the guy who sold weapons to drug cartels to get you out early. So, there's that.

And then there's the matter of identity, which is central to equity. Britney Griner is not white and she's a lesbian. Now, those facts might seem irrelevant to you -- we hope they do seem irrelevant, because they are -- but they're not irrelevant to the White House press secretary. In the view of the White House press secretary, those are essential qualifications for a prisoner swap.