Trump compares himself to Navalny as he says death reminds him of ‘unfair courtroom decisions’

Republican frontrunner failed to condemn Putin and claims Mr Navalny has shone a light on ‘radical Left politicians destroying America’

Donald Trump appeared to compare himself to Alexei Navalny as he said the case of the Russian opposition leader reminded him of “grossly unfair courtroom decisions” in the US.
While Joe Biden blamed Vladimir Putin for the 47-year-old opposition leader’s death, Mr Trump did not mention the Russian president at all.
Instead, he used his Truth Social channel to liken his legal difficulties to the treatment meted out to Mr Navalny, whose widow said had been murdered. 
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” he wrote.
“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. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024.”
Mr Trump’s reaction was condemned by Nikki Haley, his challenger for the Republican presidential nomination.
“Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage. Instead, he stole a page from liberals’ playbook, denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia.”
Interviewed on Fox News, she accused Mr Trump of being “weak in the knees” on Putin.
“I mean it’s amazing to me how weak in the knees he is when it comes to Putin. Because you look at the fact, he has yet to say anything about Navalny’s death,” she said.
“Putin murdered him. It’s what he does to his political opponents.”
Mr Trump’s reaction to Mr Navalny’s death came within days of the former president inviting Russia to invade Nato members who failed to contribute enough to the alliance’s military spending.
His stance will be supported by a pro-Russian caucus within the Republican party which is opposed to the US providing more military aid to Ukraine.
But it will also put him at odds with some loyal allies, notably Republican South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a foreign policy hawk.
Over the weekend Mr Graham called for Russia to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism.
“Navalny was one of the bravest people I ever met. When he went back to Russia he had to know he was going to be killed by Putin, and he was murdered by Putin,” he said on CBS’s news show, Face the Nation.
Bill Cohen, a former Republican senator who served as defence secretary under Bill Clinton, also condemned Mr Trump.
“Instead of displaying any faint recognition of how the tragic death of Mr Navalny vividly illustrates the continuing moral bankruptcy of Putin and Russia, Trump’s reaction continues his cowardly reluctance to criticise Putin and also demonstrates his increasingly concerning mental state,” he told The Telegraph.
“An unstable narcissist such as Trump cannot be considered a serious candidate for president.”