Donald Trump’s response made no mention of the Russian government or Putin. (document)
Donald Trump ended his long silence on the death of Alexei Navalny on Monday, avoiding criticism of the Kremlin in a statement and instead describing the Russian opposition leader’s sudden death as Signs of America’s collapse.
The unexplained death of Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison last week at the age of 47 shocked Russia’s exiled opposition as well as the West, with Western leaders blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin and authorities in Moscow .
But ahead of the November U.S. election, former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is leading the Republican primary in the face of growing criticism, had remained silent on the issue until Monday in a social media post focusing on his speech. The United States has been called a “failure.”
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country,” Trump said on his Truth social site.
“This is a slow and steady process where evil, radical left-wing politicians, prosecutors and judges are leading us down a path to destruction.”
Trump denounced the United States’ “open borders, rigged elections and grossly unfair court decisions,” calling the United States “a country in decline.”
The post made no mention of the Russian government or Putin.
Trump’s initial silence on the matter drew criticism from his primary challenger for the Republican nomination the day before.
“The fact is, he won’t admit anything about Alexei Navalny – either he sides with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and thinks it’s cool for Putin to kill one of his political rivals, or He just thought it was no big deal. Deal,” Nikki Haley said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Any one of those is concerning. Any one of those is a problem,” added Nikki Haley, who trailed far behind Trump in the Republican primary.
Trump recently alarmed Western allies by saying he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of the NATO military alliance who fail to meet their financial obligations.
Putin has long been admired by the far right in the United States, including Trump, who has a history of praising Kremlin leaders, such as calling him a “genius” and more credible than the U.S. intelligence community.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
