Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley attacked former President Donald Trump for previously defending Russian President Vladimir Putin when he learned that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was dead.
On Friday, Russian news media announced that 47-year-old Navalny had died in prison after losing consciousness and failed attempts at resuscitation.
Putin’s biggest enemy was serving an 18-year prison sentence in a penal colony in Siberia and felt unwell after taking a walk, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said.
“Putin did this,” Haley said in a post on X on Friday. “The same Putin who praises and defends Donald Trump. The same Trump who said, “In fairness to Putin, you say he killed people. I didn’t see that.”
Trump made these comments in 2015 when he was the leading presidential candidate and pushed back on the idea that Putin was killing journalists.
“Putin killed his political opponent and Trump didn’t say a word after he said he would encourage Putin to invade our allies. However, he has posted more than 20 times on social media about his legal drama and fake polls,” Haley said in a follow-up post.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley (left) attacked former President Donald Trump for previously praising Russian President Vladimir Putin when he learned that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (right) was dead
Haley, Trump’s latest rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, shared a 2015 quote from the ex-president casting doubt on allegations that Putin had journalists killed
In a follow-up post, Haley called out Trump for staying silent on Navalny’s death but “posting on social media more than 20 times about his legal drama and fake polls”
Since news of Navalny’s death made headlines around the world, Trump took to Truth Social to preview upcoming campaign events, delve into President Joe Biden’s Friday trip to Eastern Palestine, Ohio and its people who created an AI-generated image of Trump. playing golf that makes the former president look fat.
Trump has been in a precarious political position when it comes to Russia for years.
In the 2015 interview Haley referenced, Trump doubted Putin was a killer during a conversation with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
‘I don’t know if he did that. Have you been able to prove that? Do you know the names of the reporters he killed? Because I – you know, you’ve heard this, but I haven’t seen the names,” Trump said. “He always denied it.”
Trump also supported Putin’s denial of interference in the 2016 presidential election.
During a press conference with Putin in Helsinki, Finland in June 2018, Trump was asked whether he believed intelligence from US agencies that concluded Russia had interfered in the election he won against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump then said he was not convinced it was Moscow.
On Truth Social Friday, Trump called the person “despicable” who created an AI version of the ex-president playing golf (above left) where he looks fat. He shared several photos of him playing golf in real life to make his point
“I don’t see any reason why that would be the case,” Trump said. “President Putin was extremely strong and forceful in his denial today.”
The comments led to much criticism.
For years, Trump has objected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 race — and whether there was collusion with the Trump campaign.
The ex-president consistently labeled the effort a “witch hunt.”
On Saturday, Trump got into trouble again when he said at a rally in South Carolina that he told a NATO leader to pay up or “he would encourage ‘Russia’ to do whatever they want.”
He defended that statement at a rally on Wednesday in North Charleston.
‘Look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect them. OK?’ he told the crowd, this time without the part about threatening a Russian invasion.
Both Haley and President Joe Biden went after Trump over the comment.
‘What bothers me is that you should not side with the criminal who kills his opponents. Don’t side with someone who has invaded and invaded a country,” Haley said of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “And half a million people have died or been injured by Putin.”
Biden invoked Trump’s NATO comments on Friday as he addressed the crowd about Navalny’s death.
We must all reject the dangerous statements of the previous president, who invited Russia to invade our NATO allies if they did not pay up. He said if an ally didn’t pay its dues, he would encourage Russia “to do whatever they want,” Biden said.
Then he stopped talking for a moment as he calmed his thoughts.
“I think I need to clear my head here and not say what I really think,” he continued after the break. ‘But let me be clear. This is an outrageous thing for a president to say.”
“I can’t fathom it, can’t fathom it – from Truman on down, they’re turning in their graves when they hear this,” Biden added.