Republican strategist Sarah Longwell is livid with former President Donald Trump for his crass response to Thursday’s prisoner trade with Russia, by which President Joe Biden’s administration freed Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and several other different Individuals.
“Between the Olympics, Simone Biles’ floor routine, the hostages coming home, the vibe right now should be like tattooing an American flag on your chest and running through the streets,” she instructed Jessica Dean on “CNN This Morning” Friday. “But what does this guy do?
“He sits there on his phone, grumpy that the hostages are home, mad that he doesn’t get to feign like he and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin have some special deal so he’s going to be able to negotiate this,” Longwell continued. “He’s always Trump first, America last, despite his rhetoric.”
Longwell, writer of conservative outlet The Bulwark, can also be govt director of the Republican Voters Towards Trump initiative, which introduced Wednesday that it had launched a $3.5 million marketing campaign throughout swing states.
“Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us!” Trump wrote Thursday on his Reality Social platform. “I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING — and never any cash. To do so is bad precedent for the future. That’s the way it should be.”
Biden confirmed Thursday that the White Home had negotiated the discharge of 16 folks from Russia, together with former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and 12 political prisoners from Germany and Russia, and stated at a press convention that “our alliances make Americans safer.”
The trade additionally freed eight Russian nationals, a few of whom are reportedly suspected of getting ties to Russian intelligence. A number of Republicans, together with Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and former Trump White Home nationwide safety adviser John Bolton, slammed the deal.
Longwell argued Friday that “people should be more offended” by Trump and his response.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Photographs
“One of the reasons I became a Republican was they felt like they loved America,” she stated. “Like they thought America was a good place, that we were often in the right. But Donald Trump describes this as a dark place, isn’t excited when we bring the hostages home.
“He’s not even being cool about the Olympics,” continued Longwell. “And so, yeah, I think this is a stark contrast in people who are out there doing their jobs for America and somebody who’s sitting on his phone, sending out nasty tweets about America.”
Biles, who received her second all-around gymnastics gold this week, wielded Trump’s personal phrases towards him — after he claimed in the course of the June 27 presidential debate that immigrants are “taking Black jobs.”
“I love my black job,” Biles wrote Friday on X, the platform previously generally known as Twitter.
