South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace faced harsh criticism for claiming President Joe Biden was "missing in action" on the same day he, following months of painstaking negotiations, announced a prisoner swap securing the release of three Americans held in Russia.
On Thursday, Biden revealed that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were freed, along with U.S. green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The swap involved the U.S. and Western allies agreeing to release eight Russian detainees in exchange for Russia freeing 16 detainees, including five German citizens and seven Russian political prisoners.
Just before Biden disclosed the deal, Mace questioned:
"Biden is MIA. Why is no one talking about it?"
You can see her post below.
The White House swiftly shut her down as the news of the successful prisoner swap spread:
"He's been busy."
You can see the post below.
Mace's timing could not have been worse—so people were all over the White House's post and swiftly mocked Mace in response.
Others criticized her more directly.
The three Americans were brought home following the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed them late Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after their arrival from Turkey, where the exchange occurred.
Now in San Antonio, the trio will undergo medical evaluations at the Brooke Army Medical Center, which has a reintegration program that has supported other freed detainees, including WNBA player Brittney Griner and Travis King, who was held by North Korea.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was detained in March last year on allegations of spying for the U.S. Whelan, a security consultant and former Marine, was arrested in December 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2020. Kurmasheva, an editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in June 2023 and sentenced to 6½ years in a Russian penal colony for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian military.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian journalist, author, and opposition politician with U.S. permanent residency, will return to the U.S. after reuniting with his family in Germany. Kara-Murza, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post, was included in the exchange.
