Former President Donald Trump is reacting to the “sudden death” of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
He continued:
“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.”
Trump does not blame Putin for Navalny's death. Instead, he bashes America and tries to make it about himself. pic.twitter.com/lNoKDLQ6F3
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) February 19, 2024
Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement on Friday, “On February 16, 2024, in penal colony No. 3, convict A.A. Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
“The facility’s medical workers immediately arrived at the scene and an emergency medical team was called in. All necessary resuscitation measures have been carried out, but they did not yield positive results. Emergency medics confirmed the death of the convict,” it added.
However, NBC News notes there was “no immediate information about what exactly caused Navalny’s death.”
NBC News also notes Navalny “was poisoned with a military nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia in 2020 — an attempt on his life that he blamed directly on Putin — and spent his final years behind bars as the Russian leader reshaped the country to rally behind his war in Ukraine.”
Navalny was poisoned and then willfully returned to Russia in 2021 knowing the risks of continuing to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He did not have to go back. He could have decided being poisoned gave him a new perspective on life and it was time to enjoy England with some new career. But he decided to return to continue his opposition efforts, and in the end, it led to the end of his life.
By contrast, Trump is facing prosecution for the actions that — speaking only about the charges stemming from his time as president and afterward — give off the appearance of criminality: hogging classified documents and trying to overturn the 2020 election.
These are not the same.
And for Trump’s first comment about Navalny’s death to be to comparison of his legal woes to someone who was standing up to tyranny and lost his life for it is just gross.