Former President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that he could get Russian President Vladimir Putin to release jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich if he is elected. Joe Biden‘s campaign.
Gershkovich “will be released almost immediately after the election, but certainly before I take office,” Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “He will be HOME, SAFE AND WITH HIS FAMILY. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE PAY NOTHING!”
TJ Ducklo, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, said the former president “doesn’t give a damn about the innocent Americans wrongfully imprisoned” by Putin, citing Trump’s repeated attacks on members of the press.
“Trump called journalists ‘enemies of the people’ and promised to jail reporters whose reporting he doesn’t like — not so different from what’s happening now with Evan Gershkovich in Russia,” Ducklo said in a statement. He noted that Trump has said he rejected a deal to free former Marines. Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 on suspicion of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The US government has said Gershkovich and Whelan were wrongfully detained.
“For Donald Trump, these wrongly imprisoned Americans are political weapons and props that he can use for his own gain — for Joe Biden, they are people whose loved ones and family members he has spent time with,” Ducklo added. “Their release remains an urgent priority, just as it was for the 60 Americans wrongfully detained or hostage that President Biden has brought home since taking office.”
The Trump campaign and the offices of key Republican lawmakers in Congress who have been aggressive toward Russia and Putin, including Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reached by NBC News, Rep.’s offices declined. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who sit with Young on the Foreign Relations Committee, foreseeable comment.
It is unclear why Trump made this claim about Gershkovich’s release. Asked about Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “obviously has not had any contacts with Donald Trump,” Reuters reported.
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen, has been jailed since late 2023 on espionage charges while reporting for The Wall Street Journal. Russia has repeatedly extended Gershkovich’s detention. Russian authorities have provided no evidence to support their espionage allegations.
Weeks after Gershkovich’s arrest, Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference that the government would do “everything in its power” to bring him home.
President Joe Biden has said the US will continue to push for Gershkovich’s release and “denounce Russia’s abhorrent attempts to use Americans as a bargaining chip and impose costs.”
“And we will continue to stand strong against all those who attempt to attack the press or target journalists – the pillars of the free society,” Biden said in a statement in March.
Biden addressed Gershkovich and Whelan directly in his statement, saying, “We stand with you. And we will never stop working to bring you home.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
