Former President Donald Trump on Monday compared the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a prison colony to the legal risk he faces in the United States. Raises a talking point in some right-wing circles Connecting Two In his first comments on Navalny's death.
“Alexei Navalny's sudden death made me more aware of what is happening in our country,” Trump said He wrote on his social media site Truth. “It's slow, steady progress, crooked, far-left politicians, lawyers, and judges are leading us down a path of destruction. Open borders, rigged elections, and grossly unfair court decisions are destroying America. We are a falling nation, a failed nation! MAGA2024.”
Nikki Haley, Trump's former ambassador to the UN and the only major candidate facing him in the GOP presidential primary, has condemned Trump's response to Navalny's death. Haley repeatedly criticized Trump over the weekend No mention of Navalny's deathIt was announced on Friday, and For the latest comments on this Trump said he once told NATO allies that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever they want” unless those allies increase their defense spending.
“Donald Trump may have condemned [Russian President] Because Vladimir Putin is a murderous thug,” Haley Tweeted. “Trump may have admired Navalny's courage. Instead, he stole a page from the liberals' playbook, condemning America and comparing our country to Russia.
Navalny's death, announced by Russia's prison service, followed a series of poisoning attempts on him, including one where he was poisoned by a military nerve agent during a business trip to Russia in 2020. Navalny, who has fought for years to expose corruption in Putin's government, blamed the attempt to poison the Russian president.
The Russian opposition leader, who spent his final years in prison, was 47. His death drew widespread condemnation from international leaders, including President Joe Biden, who said he was “surprised and outraged”.
As president, Trump described Navalny's poisoning as “horrendous” and “terrible” and “something that should not have happened.”
“We don't have any evidence yet, but I'm looking,” he said at a press conference on September 4, 2020.
Asked two weeks later who was responsible, Trump said: “We'll talk about that another time.”
Trump's post echoed that of right-wing allies who have joined the former president and Russia dissidents in recent days.
“Navalny's death in prison is a brutal reminder that imprisoning your political opponents is inhumane and violates every principle of a free society,” said former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Published in X, formerly known as Twitter. “Watch the Biden administration speak out against Putin and imprison his leading political opponent, while Democrats in four different jurisdictions try to turn President Trump into a U.S. Marine.”
“Navalny = Trump” Published Right-wing activist Dinesh D'Souza. “The plan of the Biden administration and the Democrats is to ensure that their leading political opponent dies in prison. There is no real difference between the two cases.
Last year, the US State Department was invited When Navalny faced the most recent “extremist” accusations, the “baseless” U.N said Their resulting 19-year prison sentence “raises further concerns about judicial harassment and political instrumentalization of the courts and comes amid a crackdown on freedom of expression and political opposition.”
