Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
Former US President Donald Trump compared himself with late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, saying he faced the same kind of persecution as Navalny did from the Russian government.
Trump, in an interview with Fox News compared his legal troubles to the Navalny, who died in prison last week.
Calling Navalny "a very brave man," Trump said he should not have returned to Russia. However, unlike incumbent US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders, Trump stopped short of criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin in his answer. He instead said that Navalny would have been safer to criticize Russia from afar.
Trump compared his $355 million fine in a New York fraud trial, saying, "It's a form of Navalny".
The former US President added, "It’s happening in our country, too. We are turning into a communist country in many ways. I have eight or nine trials all because of the fact that ... I’m in politics".
This week, Trump in his social media platform Truth expressed his sympathy for Navalny, he wrote Navalny’s death “has made me more and more aware” of “crooked, radical left politicians, prosecutors, and judges leading us down a path to destruction".
But his remarks come as House Republicans have refused to provide more funding to Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion and as many in the Republican Party grow more accepting of Russian expansionism.
Consequently, Biden launched a blistering attack against Trump on Navalny's death, saying, "Why does Trump always blame America? Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Why can’t Trump just say that?"
Navalny, 47, was a prominent opponent of Putin who drew the Russian leader’s ire by publishing investigations into corruption at state companies and videos documenting the lavish lives of senior officials. He was nearly killed in 2020 after a nerve-agent attack that he blamed on Putin’s security services and was jailed in 2021. He died in a remote Arctic prison.
(With agencies input)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.