President Trump commented Monday on the death in prison of 47-year-old Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, posting a statement on Truth Social comparing the corruption and oppression in Russia to that of the current day United States that drew sharp criticism from the rival presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Nikki Haley.
Navalny, who survived a 2020 poisoning that used the Soviet era nerve agent Novichok, reportedly collapsed and died on Friday while taking a walk at the ‘Polar Wolf’ prison, a former Soviet gulag located north of the Arctic Circle. The day before, Navalny appeared in court looking healthy and acting defiant.
Navalny looks healthy and in good spirits in the last-known video allegedly shot during court proceedings a day before his reported death.
In it, Navalny is addressing a judge via a video link from his prison. pic.twitter.com/lUWjrPeybT
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) February 16, 2024
Prison officials told Navalny’s mother he Navalny died of “sudden death syndrome.” Navalny’s body reportedly had bruising on it consistent with convulsions, according to a paramedic. Navalny’s widow and mother of their two children, Yulia Navalnaya, posted a video Monday accusing Putin of killing her husband with the same nerve agent used in the 2020 poisoning.
Trump’s post on Truth Social:
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction. Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024”
Trump’s comparison of the U.S. under Biden and the Deep State provoked outrage from his critics, including sole remaining GOP rival former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley who posted, “Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug. Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage. Instead, he stole a page from liberals’ playbook, denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia.”
Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug.
Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage.
Instead, he stole a page from liberals’ playbook, denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia. pic.twitter.com/CxAOGwIQEN
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 19, 2024
The Biden campaign, “After days of silence, Trump finally responds to Aleksey Navalny’s death by comparing Navalny to himself in deranged social media post”
After days of silence, Trump finally responds to Aleksey Navalny’s death by comparing Navalny to himself in deranged social media post pic.twitter.com/obgeL20T46
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) February 19, 2024
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) called Trump, “Human Garbage.”
Human Garbage pic.twitter.com/gJkP8jNGRP
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) February 19, 2024
Robby Starbuck reposted a comment by Navalny from January 9, 2021 likening his treatment by Putin to that of Trump, “Someone just flagged this for me and it’s pretty wild. When Trump was banned by the old Twitter regime, Navalny came out against it and called it censorship akin to how he as censored in Russia. His post almost foreshadows how Dems would try to remove Trump from the ballot too.”
Someone just flagged this for me and it’s pretty wild. When Trump was banned by the old Twitter regime, Navalny came out against it and called it censorship akin to how he as censored in Russia. His post almost foreshadows how Dems would try to remove Trump from the ballot too. https://t.co/fQWMEJG92b
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) February 19, 2024
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) made the same comparison on Friday, “Navalnys death in prison is a brutal reminder that jailing your political opponents is inhumane and a violation of every principle of a free society. Watch the Biden Administration speak out against Putin and his jailing of his leading political opponent while Democrats in four different jurisdictions try to turn President Trump into an American Navalny. The hypocrisy and corruption of the left is astonishing.”
Navalnys death in prison is a brutal reminder that jailing your political opponents is inhumane and a violation of every principle of a free society. Watch the Biden Administration speak out against Putin and his jailing of his leading political opponent while Democrats in four…
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) February 16, 2024
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
