Kremlin opponents
After Navalny’s death, Trump makes a bizarre comparison
Former US President Donald Trump commented on the death of Alexey Navalny. photo
© Rebecca Blackwell/AP/dpa
Trump is not shy when it comes to speaking his mind. But after the death of the Russian opposition activist Navalny, he initially held back – and then drew comparisons to the USA.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country,” he wrote. “It’s a slow, steady progression, with lying, radical left-wing politicians, prosecutors and judges leading us down a path of destruction.”
Trump had already shared an opinion article over the weekend comparing the treatment of Trump in the USA with Putin’s treatment of Navalny. Trump wrote the headline of his post: “Biden:Trump::Putin:Navalny.”
Trump was initially conspicuously silent after Navalny’s death. His competitor Nikki Haley, who like the 77-year-old is running for the Republican presidential nomination, criticized him heavily for this. The 52-year-old demanded on US television that Trump had to answer whether he believed that Putin was responsible for Navalny’s death. She had previously said: “Either he is on Putin’s side and thinks it’s cool that Putin killed one of his political opponents, or he doesn’t think it’s such a big deal. Both are worrying. Both are a problem.”
What does Trump think of Vladimir Putin?
Trump has regularly made positive comments about Putin in the past and has also given the impression that he admires the Russian president. He made it clear during a campaign appearance a week ago that he would not provide American support to NATO allies with low defense spending in the event of a Russian attack. Haley called the statements “shocking” because they would strengthen Putin. Haley is lagging behind Trump in internal party polls.
Trump spent the weekend on Truth Social railing against a ruling in a civil case in New York that required him to pay more than $350 million in fines. The judge considered it proven that Trump and his sons and employees manipulated the value of the Trump Organization for years in order to obtain cheaper loans and insurance contracts.
The Republican is facing four criminal proceedings in the USA, including because of his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Civil proceedings are ongoing at the same time. Trump repeatedly speaks of a “political witch hunt.” He regularly calls the United States a “banana republic” because of the legal action against him and continues to spread the lie that fraud deprived him of victory in the presidential election.
Unlike Trump, US President Joe Biden was very clear after Navalny’s death and blamed Putin for it. Although we don’t know exactly what happened, there is no doubt that Navalny’s death was a result of Putin’s actions and those of his criminals, Biden said on Friday in the White House. Putin poisoned Navalny, had him arrested and charged with trumped-up crimes and put him in solitary confinement. But none of this stopped Navalny from denouncing lies, even in prison. Biden is running for a second term in office for the Democrats in the November presidential election.