Donald Trump on Monday finally spoke out on the sudden death of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, several days after the news was reported. However, the former president in his message did not acknowledge the potential role that Russian President Vladimir Putin played in Navalny's death and instead conflated his perceived political plight with it.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction."
Trump continued, alleging that "Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION. MAGA2024."
Trump, who faces ever-mounting legal woes — including four criminal indictments, numerous felony counts, and millions of dollars worth of fines and damage payments — has repeatedly and baselessly tried to make President Joe Biden his legal scapegoat, as the New York Times pointed out.
The ex-president drew sharp criticism for his post and for likening himself to the anti-Kremlin activist.
“Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug,” former South Carolina governor and Trump's rival in the GOP primary, Nikki Haley, wrote on X/Twitter. “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.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 19, 2024
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
Bill Kristol, director of Defending Democracy Together, a conservative, anti-MAGA political group, noted how, "During the Cold War, many fellow travelers at least pretended to condemn the 'excesses' of the Soviet Union."
"But Trump isn't equivocating. He's all in for Putin," Kristol added.
Trump refuses to condemn Putin for the murder of Navalny. During the Cold War, many fellow travelers at least pretended to condemn the "excesses" of the Soviet Union. But Trump isn't equivocating. He's all in for Putin. pic.twitter.com/xreGdQ4BXd
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 19, 2024
"Whenever you think Trump can’t get any lower, there’s a knock on the floorboards," tweeted Garry Kasparov, co-founder of World Liberty Congress and the Renew Democracy Initiative. "He aggrandizes himself, slanders Navalny, and compares his lifelong criminality and the US justice system with dictator Putin's persecution of political opposition."
Whenever you think Trump can’t get any lower, there’s a knock on the floorboards. He aggrandizes himself, slanders Navalny, and compares his lifelong criminality and the US justice system with dictator Putin's persecution of political opposition. https://t.co/lnN57ETCfw
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 19, 2024
CNN political analyst and founder of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, David Axelrod wrote on X/Twitter, "After saying nothing about the assassination of Navalny for days, Trump finally comments—not to honor the fallen hero; not to condemn Putin for the murder—but to improbably liken HIMSELF to the martyr, drawing false equivalences and running down our own democracy."
After saying nothing about the assassination of Navalny for days, Trump finally comments--not to honor the fallen hero; not to condemn Putin for the murder--but to improbably liken HIMSELF to the martyr, drawing false equivalences and running down our own democracy. pic.twitter.com/vgit356fPx
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) February 19, 2024
"Just despicable," tweeted Former White House Director of Strategic Communications and Trump aide Alyssa Farrah Griffin.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough slammed Trump's "grotesque" message, also calling out the "freaks, weirdos, insurrectionists, radicals on the far, far right."
"They're not even the right now. They're in the Trump death cult for American democracy," Scarborough argued.
"To make those comparisons is so grotesque," he continued. "To compare America to Russia is so grotesque. To compare Trump to Navalny, Trump who flies around in a 757, who lives in a golden skyscraper, who lives in Mar-a-Lago, when you have Navalny dead, poisoned in a penal colony. All of this is so grotesque. What is so shocking is, this isn't one freak legislator, right-wing freak legislator from Louisiana or Iowa. This is the next Republican nominee for president of the United States in 2024."
"Republicans are falling in line," Scarborough added. "They're saying, 'The hell with America, we will trash America, we'll say it's just like Russia.' Just like Trump's been doing since 2015, just to elect this con artist who wants to undermine America's rule of law and American democracy."
Navalny was reported dead on Friday by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, which indicated that Navalny "felt unwell after a walk" and "almost immediately" fell unconscious. The prison service also noted that it was investigating Navalny's "sudden death," according to CNN. Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has already accused Putin of killing her husband, saying, “I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family, and with my husband.”
Michael McFaul, a former United States Ambassador to Russia and friend of Navalny, during a recent appearance on MSNBC, said that "Putin killed Navalny. Let's be crystal clear about that."
"Putin killed Navalny because Navalny was the one opposition leader in Russia that Putin feared the most," McFaul added. "This is a really tragic day for me, and it should be a tragic day for anybody who cares about democracy."
