Brittney Griner’s wife Cherelle wants President Joe Biden to secure her partner’s release, doing whatever is necessary to get the WNBA star home from Russia where she has been detained for more than three months.
“I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power. She’s a political pawn, ” Cherelle Griner said in an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that aired Wednesday. “So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”
The Phoenix Mercury center has been detained since Feb. 17 after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.
The 31-year-old Griner — a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. — faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Earlier this month, the Biden administration said Griner is being wrongfully detained.
Cherelle has talked with Secretary of State Antony Blinken about Griner’s case, but not the president.
“I was grateful for the call, you say she’s top priority, but I wanna see it. and I feel like to see it would be me seeing BG on U.S. soil,” Cherelle said. “At this point I don’t even know who I’m getting back when she comes back.”
Cherelle Griner told Roberts that her wife has found “comfort” in the support she has received around the league amid her detention in Russia – including putting her initials and jersey number on the sideline of each WNBA stadium via a floor decal.
“Things like that matter, like, it has her hopeful,” Cherelle said. “It lets her know she’s not forgotten. Those small moments I know give her some type of hope.”
The couple has communicated “sporadically” via letters, Cherelle Griner told Roberts, but have not spoken for about 100 days.
“She wrote me one letter and was like, ‘Babe, I know you wanna go down right now but like, don’t just yet,” Cherelle Griner said. “I won’t go down until she’s back.”
“Every single day matters for me to be sound, for me to be alert, for me to be attentive, to make sure that she comes back,” she added.
