CNN host Dana Bash offered an insane take as to why WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison for drug smuggling and possession.
Bash claimed that it was due in part to her being a member of minority groups.
The Biden administration is attempting to get Griner and also U.S. citizen and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested for espionage, released from Russian prisons in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Bash said, “It certainly is beneficial politically in the mind of Vladimir Putin to show the world that they have a — an American sports figure who has won two gold medals, who has — is a seven-time All-Star, plays for the Phoenix Mercury behind bars in Russia.”
CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood replied, “I do think it’s important to note that administration officials are saying that when it comes to a potential prisoner swap to get Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and other Americans who’s wrongfully detained in the country, to get them release, that the ball is in Russia’s court now.”
Bash then turned to CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, to make her woke point: “Fred, since you have been in touch with the defense for all these months, let’s just get real. How much of this is because she is a six-foot-nine, black, lesbian American?”
Pleitgen backed her idea, saying, “Well, I think that the last part, especially being an American is obviously one of the big issues and certainly something that may have led to a tougher verdict here. Of course — we, of course, always have to say that, you know, especially someone who is lesbian or gay here in Russia has a really, really tough time.”
“Whether or not that makes a big difference in a court of law is something that’s up for debate, but it’s certainly something where if you look, for instance, at Russian media, that is something that is not looked very positively upon here, in a lot of public society, and certainly in Russian state-run media,” he concluded.
Watch the CNN segment:
CNN's Dana Bash says Brittney Griner was found guilty because "she’s a 6'9", black, lesbian American" pic.twitter.com/IRfGLhEdic
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 4, 2022