Basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom is now justifiably
blasting President Joe Biden
for his silence in the face of a bounty the nation of
Turkey
placed on Mr. Freedom.
The basketball rebounding legend was born in Turkey but is a naturalized American citizen, having honored our laws by following the formal process of attaining citizenship. As I wrote here last week, Biden should feel an absolute obligation to “make clear that anyone encouraging such vigilante injustice against a U.S. citizen, especially on U.S. soil, will receive cold and punitive fury in response.”
BIDEN MUST PROTECT ENES KANTER FREEDOM FROM ERDOGAN’S EVIL
Instead, Biden has been missing in action — or, put another way, conspicuous by his inaction.
The situation is this: Turkey’s tinpot authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, apparently resents Freedom’s criticisms of Erdogan’s human rights abuses, which include imprisoning scores of independent journalists and keeping what Freedom cites as “17,000 innocent women and almost 1,000 kids and babies growing up in Turkish jails.” Freedom has been equally outspoken against China’s numerous human rights abuses, including genocidal practices against the Uyghur minority.
“It’s unacceptable,” Freedom told Fox News, referring to Biden’s silence about his case. “I am a U.S. citizen, and I’ve been getting death threats, and I had a bounty on my head on U.S. soil, and I want my president to actually go out there and do something.”
Instead, Biden not only remains silent on Freedom’s plight, but continues to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Turkey even as Turkey bombs Kurds, blocks NATO expansion, and otherwise makes itself an opponent of peace and liberty. Biden’s silence has continued even after more than 40 Republican lawmakers wrote him asking him to stand up for Freedom.
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“Enough is enough,” Freedom said, with justifiable concern for his own life, in reference to Turkey’s threats against him.
Likewise, not enough is not enough when it comes to support from a U.S. president for a prominent U.S. citizen wrongly threatened. Biden’s dereliction is appallingly irresponsible. If Freedom is attacked or captured, Biden himself should bear the blame and the everlasting shame.
