Former US President Donald Trump has reacted to the death of Alexey Navalny by comparing himself to the Russian opposition activist, saying the incident has heightened his concern about the threats posed by his political enemies.
“The sudden death of Alexey Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country,” Trump said on Monday in a Truth Social post. “It is a slow, steady progression with crooked, radical left politicians, prosecutors and judges leading us down a path to destruction.”
The former commander-in-chief was apparently alluding to the wave of criminal indictments and civil lawsuits that have been launched against him as he campaigns to win back the presidency later this year. Trump has accused President Joe Biden and his political allies of interfering in the 2024 election by trying to use the legal system to derail his candidacy.
“Open borders, rigged elections, and grossly unfair courtroom decisions are destroying America,” Trump said. “We are a nation in decline, a failing nation.”
A New York judge on Friday ordered Trump and his adult sons to pay $354 million in damages for submitting false business reports. Judge Arthur Engoron also banned the ex-president from operating his companies in New York and barred him from applying for loans in the state. Trump faces criminal indictments in four separate cases, and prosecutors have sought to bring him to trial before the November election.
Engoron’s ruling came on the same day that Navalny died in a Siberian penal colony. Russian authorities are investigating his death, as required by law, regardless of Western reactions to the incident, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Biden and other Western leaders have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s death. The US president said on Monday that he is considering additional sanctions to punish Moscow for the opposition politician’s demise.
Trump’s chief opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, blasted her former boss for linking the Navalny situation to his political opponents. “Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug,” she said. “Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage. Instead, he stole a page from the liberals’ playbook – denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia.”