Former US president Donald Trump has said Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was a “brave” man who probably should not have returned to his country. Navalny was pronounced dead last week in rather mysterious circumstances, prompting accusations from the Western bloc that President Vladimir Putin had engineered the entire plot to silence an influential voice.
Trump, who has been an admirer of Putin for a long time, commented on Navalny’s death without assigning blame to anyone.
“Navalny is a very sad situation, and he is a very brave, he was a very brave guy because he went back. He could have stayed away,” Trump said during a town hall interview with Fox News in South Carolina.
“And, frankly, he probably would have been a lot better off staying away and talking from outside of the country as opposed to having to go back in, because people thought that could happen and it did happen. And it’s a horrible thing,” he added.
The Republican leader compared himself to Navalny, implying that both had faced politically motivated prosecutions.
“But it’s happening in our country too. We are turning into a communist country in many ways. And if you look at it – I’m the leading candidate. I get indicted.”
Trump’s fresh statement comes after he took to his Truth Social network on Sunday (Feb 18) and said Navalny’s death made him “more aware of what is happening” in the United States.
“It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” he added.
Biden criticises Trump
Trump’s statements appeared to have rubbed President Joe Biden the wrong way as the Democrat issued a scathing assessment.
“Why does Trump always blame America? Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Why can’t Trump just say that?” said Biden.
Biden, alongside other Western leaders, has said Putin was behind Navalny’s death and that he used his powers to cull freedom in Russia.
“What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality no one should be fooled not in Russia not at home not anywhere in the world,” said US President Joe Biden last week.
On Monday, Biden added he was “considering additional sanctions” on Moscow over Navalny’s death.
Navalny once led street protests against the Russian president, building a potent opposition that constantly targeted Moscow’s corrupt officials. However, akin to several other opposition voices, he was promptly sent behind the bars, eventually leading to his death.
(With inputs from agencies)
