Former President Donald Trump posted a broad statement on Friday denouncing the “misery, destruction, and death” under President Joe Biden without direct reference to the mysterious death of a top critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prompted for comment on what U.S. leaders have suggested was the assassination of 47-year-old Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned in Russia, the Trump campaign pointed the Washington Examiner to a Truth Social post from the former president that did not specifically address Navalny, his death, or Putin.
“In just three and a half years under Crooked Joe Biden, the World has experienced Misery, Destruction, and Death,” Trump posted. “America is no longer respected because we have an incompetent president who is weak and doesn’t understand what the World is thinking.”
“I am the only one who can bring Peace, Prosperity, and Stability like I did during my first term. America will be respected and feared (if necessary!) again,” he continued.
In a statement translated by Reuters, the Russian prison service claimed, “On Feb. 16, 2024, in penal colony number 3, convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
However, in video footage of Navalny in court Thursday, reporters and Putin critics noted that he did not appear unwell and even joked.
President Zelensky just blamed Putin for Navalny’s death in prison at age 47 while speaking to global leaders in Munich. Here is Navalny just yesterday addressing a Russian judge. He did not look sick. https://t.co/GondL6fkEY
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) February 16, 2024
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at the Munich Security Conference Friday, telling attendees, “If it’s true, I want Putin, his entourage, Putin’s friends, and his government to know they will be held responsible for what they have done to our country, my family, and my husband. And that day will come very soon.”
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In a statement earlier Friday, Trump’s Republican primary opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, attacked Trump for his previous comments on Putin. “Putin did this,” Haley posted on X. She further claimed that “Donald Trump praises and defends” the Russian president, pointing to a 2015 comment in which Trump said, “In all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that.”
Trump’s campaign did not directly respond to Haley’s criticism.