If Biden won’t say Fogel’s name, Trump could

PLEASE SAY MARC FOGEL’S NAME. Say his name, say it often, say it in important places and bring him home.

Fogel, 62, is a teacher from Oakmont who has spent his whole adult life teaching kids in foreign countries. In August 2021, he was arrested in a Moscow airport for possession of medical marijuana legally prescribed in Pennsylvania for his debilitating and well-documented back pain.

He has not been brought home. He has not been designated as wrongfully detained. He has been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony.

Since 2022, we have implored the State Department to bring Fogel home. We have pushed for him to be included in the discussions for other prisoners, including WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was arrested for the same crime and traded for a notorious arms dealer in December 2022.

Prisoner swaps and international negotiations are hard. Prioritizing someone is never a guarantee they will be freed. Dealing with Vladimir Putin’s Russia is never a sure thing. Doing so during an active war does not make it easier.

But the one thing we — and Fogel’s family — have pushed to hear over the past three years could not be easier. Just say Marc Fogel’s name. Make him a part of the conversation. We — and the family — have begged for President Joe Biden and others in the administration to say Fogel’s name when the topic of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan comes up.

In a social media post in May, former president Donald Trump promised Gershkovich would be freed “almost immediately” if he wins the November election. He did not mention Whelan, Fogel or others.

Now Fogel’s mother, Malphine, is trying to get Trump to include her son in his statements as he visits Butler County. Trump is set to attend a rally Saturday. She recorded a video appeal to the Republican nominee. As we have pushed the Biden administration, we do the same for Trump.

Listen to Malphine Fogel, who just heard from her son that he has once again been hospitalized in Russia. If the former president can bring attention to Marc Fogel’s dire circumstances, he should do so.

Trump’s voice can be incendiary and divisive, but it is rarely ignored. Whether he could make the Fogel family a promise is immaterial. He could offer them a bullhorn.

Biden has had almost three years to say Fogel’s name. Let’s see if Trump will.