Donald Trump made his first public comment on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday in a social media post and somehow made it all about himself.
The former president, who has been criticized for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not cast any blame but linked Navalny’s murder in an Artic prison to his own legal problems.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” he added. “Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024.”
It’s unclear what similarities exist between Navalny, an anti-corruption crusader who had been a thorn in the side of Putin, and Trump who regularly praises the Russian dictator, has been indicted by a grand jury four times on a total of 91 felony charges including for his attempts to overturn the results of an election he lost so he could remain in power and who has been found liable for fraud and ordered to pay $355 million.
Unlike Trump, President Joe Biden directly blamed Putin for Navalny’s murder.
“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said in a speech at the White House. “There is no doubt that the death of Navalny was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”
Nikki Haley, Trump’s opponent for the Republican nomination for president also said Putin “murdered” Navalny, adding, “It’s what he does to his political opponents.”
