Photo: Alamy
During an in-depth interview with Time Magazine, President Donald Trump called for the release of Wall Street Journal Russian correspondent, Evan Gershkovich.
Cortellessa questioned the 45th president on the situation and asked, “Why haven’t you called for his release?”
President Trump noted the many issues he is handling and declared, “I’ll call for it right now in your story if you’d like.”
“I think he’s a very brave young man,” He added. Then he stated, “I’ll get him released. He’ll be released. Putin is going to release him.”
President Trump noted Biden’s inability to do so in the year that Gershkovich has remained imprisoned.
He said, “I think Biden has dealt with Putin very poorly. Putin should never have gone into Ukraine. And he didn’t go in for four years with me. I get along very well with Putin, but the reporter should be released and he will be released.”
“I don’t know if he’s going to be released under Biden,” he admitted.
President Trump called out Biden for not working harder to get Gershkovich released.
“I think it’s a terrible precedent. And I’m very surprised that he hasn’t been released, but I will get him released, if he’s not released by the time we get to office,” he concluded.
The Wall Street Journal has documented Gershkovich’s imprisonment.
On the one-year anniversary of being detained, the publication reiterated the infringement of his rights, detailing how he was captured in Moscow on March 29, 2023, and had his “pretrial detention” continuously extended.
While the Biden administration claims that it is working toward his release and has had over a year to do so, per the Associated Press, no substantial headway has been made.
Idrees Ali, Reuters Pentagon National Security Correspondent, posted a picture of the journalist to X making a heart symbol behind glass, just before his espionage court hearing on Apr. 23.
Reuters reported that Gershkovich lost his appeal last week, which challenged the pre-trial detention. He is the first journalist to be held on spying charges since the Cold War.
This has sparked various conversations from all political perspectives.
Even CNN anchor Jake Tapper posted Wednesday morning, “It’s Wednesday May 1, 2024. WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by the FSB Mar 29, 2023. 1 year & 33 days ago.”
In March, Information War correspondent Ann Vandersteel went so far as to compare the Biden administration to Gershkovich’s jailers noting, “In March 2023, PUTIN had WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich arrested while on a reporting trip.”
“Yesterday, BIDEN had journalist Steve Baker arrested for reporting of the Capitol Riot on January 6th,” she went on.
“THE SIMILARITIES ARE CHILLING!”
