Numerous Republicans joined in condemning Russian President Vladimir V. Putin following Russian authorities’ announcement of the death of Aleksei A. Navalny, a vocal opposition leader.
However, presidential candidate Nikki Haley took it a step further, leveraging her criticism of Putin to target her rival in the G.O.P. primary, former President Donald Trump, over his previous statements praising Putin, reported The New York Times.
“Putin did this. The same Putin who Donald Trump praises and defends,” Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who also served as Trump’s representative to the United Nations, posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.
She pointed to comments made by Trump during his 2015 presidential campaign, during which he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “In all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that.”
Navalny, an anti-corruption activist openly critical of Putin, died in a prison in the Arctic Circle.
Biden stated that, while U.S. officials lacked a complete understanding of the situation, he believed “there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”
Trump has remained silent on Navalny’s death, leading Haley to criticize his lack of response, The New York Times added.
She highlighted on X that “Putin murdered his political opponent and Trump hasn’t said a word after he said he would encourage Putin to invade our allies. He has, however, posted 20+ times on social media about his legal drama and fake polls.”
Haley’s criticism of Trump’s foreign policy approach, particularly his stance towards Putin, has escalated.
She informed voters during recent South Carolina appearances that Trump had sided with “a thug,” following his statement in South Carolina last weekend when he hinted at possibly “encouraging” Russia to attack NATO allies for failing to meet their military alliance payments.
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