BET Wire: White House Faces Bowe Bergdahl Blowback

The release of POW Bowe Bergdahl stirs controversy.

In Case You Missed It - Republicans leave President Obama scratching his head; Ben Carson kind of blames the spread of measles on immigrants; one lawmaker thinks it's OK if your food service worker doesn't wash his hands after a bathroom break — and more. — Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)

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In Case You Missed It - The release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from his Taliban captors hasn't been the PR success President Obama and his administration hoped it would be; New Jersey is one step closer to getting its first African-American congresswoman; 51 percent of Blacks in a Fox News survey said they support voter ID laws – and more. – Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)(Photo: BET)

The Announcement - On May 31, Obama appeared in the White House Rose Garden with the parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to announce that the soldier was being released after five years of captivity in Afghanistan in exchange for the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay. “He wasn’t forgotten by his community in Idaho, or the military, which rallied to support the Bergdahls through thick and thin," the president said. "And he wasn’t forgotten by his country, because the United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.”  (Photo: J.H. Owen-Pool/Getty Images)

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The Announcement - On May 31, Obama appeared in the White House Rose Garden with the parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to announce that the soldier was being released after five years of captivity in Afghanistan in exchange for the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay. “He wasn’t forgotten by his community in Idaho, or the military, which rallied to support the Bergdahls through thick and thin," the president said. "And he wasn’t forgotten by his country, because the United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.”  (Photo: J.H. Owen-Pool/Getty Images)

The Sunday Morning Spin - “We had reason to be concerned that this was an urgent and an acute situation, that his life could have been at risk. We did not have 30 days to wait. And had we waited and lost him, I don’t think anybody would have forgiven the United States government," said National Security Adviser Susan Rice on ABC News' This Week. She added that Bergdahl had "served the United States with honor and distinction. And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years."(Photo: This Week via ABC)

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The Sunday Morning Spin - “We had reason to be concerned that this was an urgent and an acute situation, that his life could have been at risk. We did not have 30 days to wait. And had we waited and lost him, I don’t think anybody would have forgiven the United States government," said National Security Adviser Susan Rice on ABC News' This Week. She added that Bergdahl had "served the United States with honor and distinction. And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years."(Photo: This Week via ABC)

Captive or Deserter? - Bergdahl had reportedly grown disillusioned with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. He sent his laptop and other personal items home to his parents, leaving his post with just a compass, knife, water, camera and a diary, members of his platoon report. Bergdahl also left behind a note saying he wanted to start over.(Photo: U.S. Army via Getty Images, public domain)

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Captive or Deserter? - Bergdahl had reportedly grown disillusioned with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. He sent his laptop and other personal items home to his parents, leaving his post with just a compass, knife, water, camera and a diary, members of his platoon report. Bergdahl also left behind a note saying he wanted to start over.(Photo: U.S. Army via Getty Images, public domain)

A Spit in the Face - "He walked away. He walked right off the base,” Bergdahl’s old team leader, former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, told ABC News on June 2, echoing others who served with him. “The fact of the matter is, he deserted us in the middle of Afghanistan to go and find the Taliban… People calling him a hero, people calling him this great soldier, it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who were there… and more importantly it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who died as a direct result of him leaving.” (Photo: ABC News)

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A Spit in the Face - "He walked away. He walked right off the base,” Bergdahl’s old team leader, former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, told ABC News on June 2, echoing others who served with him. “The fact of the matter is, he deserted us in the middle of Afghanistan to go and find the Taliban… People calling him a hero, people calling him this great soldier, it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who were there… and more importantly it’s a spit in the face to the soldiers who died as a direct result of him leaving.” (Photo: ABC News)

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Congressional Outrage - Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are angry that the administration did not give them 30 days' notice of the Taliban detainees' release. Many also aren't convinced that Bergdahl's health had deteriorated to a point that would justify releasing men whom they consider to be extremely dangerous and may pose a terrorist threat to the U.S. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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Congressional Outrage - Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are angry that the administration did not give them 30 days' notice of the Taliban detainees' release. Many also aren't convinced that Bergdahl's health had deteriorated to a point that would justify releasing men whom they consider to be extremely dangerous and may pose a terrorist threat to the U.S. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Also Getting the Side Eye - Robert Bergdahl grew a long beard, he says, to empathize with his son's captors. He also tweeted and then deleted a post in which he wrote, “I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen [sic]." (Photo: AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)

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Also Getting the Side Eye - Robert Bergdahl grew a long beard, he says, to empathize with his son's captors. He also tweeted and then deleted a post in which he wrote, “I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen [sic]." (Photo: AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)

Not So Heroic Welcome - Hailey, Idaho, hometown to Bergdahl, was set to celebrate his freedom and eventual return to the community. But as reports suggesting that he was more deserter than prisoner of war emerge, the festivities have been postponed. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Not So Heroic Welcome - Hailey, Idaho, hometown to Bergdahl, was set to celebrate his freedom and eventual return to the community. But as reports suggesting that he was more deserter than prisoner of war emerge, the festivities have been postponed. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

No Apologies  - "I make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the American people understand that this is somebody’s child, and that we don’t condition whether or not we make the effort to try to get them back,” said Obama, speaking from Brussels, where he's attending a G7 summit. “I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington. That’s par for the course.” (Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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No Apologies  - "I make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the American people understand that this is somebody’s child, and that we don’t condition whether or not we make the effort to try to get them back,” said Obama, speaking from Brussels, where he's attending a G7 summit. “I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington. That’s par for the course.” (Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Play Ball? - During a chance encounter on a New York City subway car, New Yorker Alvin Javier encouraged Mayor Bill de Blasio to challenge the president to a basketball duel. "I think he can beat Obama," Javier said in an Instagram video. "This is his official challenge. Obama, my mayor is going to play you one-on-one at ball. Do you accept?" The mayor seems game. "[Obama] has more basketball skills and practices a lot more, but I have height," he said in another video. (Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for USC Shoah Foundation, John Moore/Getty Images)

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Play Ball? - During a chance encounter on a New York City subway car, New Yorker Alvin Javier encouraged Mayor Bill de Blasio to challenge the president to a basketball duel. "I think he can beat Obama," Javier said in an Instagram video. "This is his official challenge. Obama, my mayor is going to play you one-on-one at ball. Do you accept?" The mayor seems game. "[Obama] has more basketball skills and practices a lot more, but I have height," he said in another video. (Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for USC Shoah Foundation, John Moore/Getty Images)

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The Obama Workout Video - Obama likes to workout every day, no matter where he is. He was covertly videotaped while pumping a little iron on June 4 in a hotel gym in Poland. Secret Service agents were nearby and said there was no more risk than if he'd been photographed by diners in a restaurant he was patronizing. (Photo: Jean Ekwa via Facebook)

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The Obama Workout Video - Obama likes to workout every day, no matter where he is. He was covertly videotaped while pumping a little iron on June 4 in a hotel gym in Poland. Secret Service agents were nearby and said there was no more risk than if he'd been photographed by diners in a restaurant he was patronizing. (Photo: Jean Ekwa via Facebook)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey - Bonnie Watson Coleman is the first African-American woman ever and first woman in more than a decade to represent New Jersey in Congress. Watson Coleman previously was a member of the state assembly in the same seat held by her late father John Watson. As a member of Congress, Watson Coleman says, she is representing "a bigger community but with the same responsibility." (Photo: Courtesy of New Jersey Assembly Office)

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One Step Closer to History - New Jersey Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman is poised to become the state's first female member of Congress in more than a decade. Watson Coleman, who won a four-way Democratic primary on June 3, also would be the first African-American female congresswoman in New Jersey History. (Photo: Courtesy of New Jersey Assembly Office)

What Do Blacks Really Think About Voter ID Laws? - According to a recent Fox News poll, 51 percent of Black voters support laws requiring individuals to present a photo ID at the polls. It was a close call: 46 percent of respondents said they oppose the laws. The poll surveyed 1,025 voters from all major demographics.(Photo: REUTERS/Randall Hill)

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What Do Blacks Really Think About Voter ID Laws? - According to a recent Fox News poll, 51 percent of Black voters support laws requiring individuals to present a photo ID at the polls. It was a close call: 46 percent of respondents said they oppose the laws. The poll surveyed 1,025 voters from all major demographics.(Photo: REUTERS/Randall Hill)

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What's Up, Missouri? - In 2013, there was the Obama mask-wearing clown at the state fair. On June 2, authorities in Jackson County, Missouri, had to shut down an interstate after a mannequin dressed in a suit and a mask of the president was found hanging off of a bridge on the highway.(Photo: AP Photo/Jameson Hsieh)

Photo By AP Photo/Jameson Hsieh

Approval Ratings - It was a bad year for Obama's job approval ratings, which  reached all-time lows and played a key role in the outcome of the midterm elections. He was for the most part persona non grata on the campaign trail and one Democratic candidate even refused to say whether she'd voted for him in 2012. His overall approval rating at the end of 2014 is at about 42 percent. He remains highly popular among African-Americans, but among 18-to-29-year-old Blacks, his rating has fallen from 92 percent to 84 percent, according to a new Gallup poll. (Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

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Six Thumbs Down - At 58 percent, nearly six in ten Americans disapprove of how Obama has handled the Veterans Affair controversy, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll. In addition, the survey found his overall job approval rating is at 43 percent.(Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)