NBC changes story to match White House narrative on Griner-Bout swap

NBC News Thursday rectified a report that said the Biden administration was offered a choice between liberating anti-American basketball star Brittney Griner or U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from Russian prison in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. Biden chose Griner, a decision many say was based on the color of Griner’s skin and her sexual proclivity.

NBC cited a senior government official as the source for its report.  

“But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is an accused spy, and that the Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none,” reported the news outlet. 

The White House, however, claimed in a Thursday press briefing that “unfortunately, the choice became to either bring Brittney home or no one.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not specify which side presented that choice, but gushed over Griner being released, saying she is “more than an athlete, more than an Olympian, she is an important role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color.” 

NBC then altered its report: 

“But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is accused of spying and that the Kremlin ultimately gave the White House the choice of Griner or no one after different options were proposed.” 

The news network also issued a correction, saying, “an earlier version of this article misstated the choice the Biden administration was given over hostages. It was to swap for Griner or no one, not a choice between Griner or Whelan.” 

Russia, however, disputes the White House narrative. On Thursday, the editor-in-chief of Russian state-owned news outlet RT, Margarita Simonyan, roundly mocked the Biden administration for choosing Griner over Whelan in exchange for Viktor Bout, nicknamed “Merchant of Death”. 

Simonyan laughed when she said on Russian TV that Bout "was not exchanged for the heroic spy,” meaning Whelan, who she also called “a hero, a US Marine decorated in medals,” because he had “three problems”. 

"The first problem is that he is white. His second problem is he is a man, his third problem is he is a heterosexual, that is something that cannot be forgiven today,” she jeered. 

Simonyan said America had a choice to redeem "a hero who suffered while serving his fatherland” or Griner, “a black lesbian hooked on drugs.” 

"This says a lot about the state of this society, of these intelligence agencies and everything related to geopolitical confrontation,” said Simonyan. 

The editor-in-chief also called it “good news” for Russia that the United States “spits on its heroes to the extent that it considers it significantly more important to free a rightfully charged well-known athlete. She didn’t suffer because she served her Motherland, but because she couldn’t live for 10 hours without hashish.” 

The White House’s Griner-or-None narrative has also been called into doubt by Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who said the Kremlin had offered Trump Whelan in exchange for Bout, which Trump reportedly turned down.