Former US President Donald Trump compares legal woes with Russian Opposition leader Navalny

Trump said, “It's a form of Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism.” When asked about Navalny, Trump said it was a “very sad situation”.

Published on: Feb 21, 2024, 11:23:10 IST

By HT News Desk

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Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Alexei Navalny, the Russian Opposition leader who died in prison last week, was a “very brave man” and should not have returned to Russia.

Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump (AFP)

Trump, who is the Republican frontrunner in the upcoming US elections, compared his own legal problems with that of Navalny. However, he didn't criticise Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the unexplained death of Navalny.

At the age of 47, Navalny passed away unexpectedly in an Arctic prison, stunning both Russia's exiled opposition and Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who pointed fingers at the Kremlin for his death.

During his hour-long appearance on Fox News, Trump vehemently criticised the $355 million fine imposed on him following a New York fraud trial.

He said, “It's a form of Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism.”

When asked about Navalny, Trump did not mention Putin but said it was a “very sad situation”.

“He was a very brave guy because he went back. He could have stayed away, and, frankly, he probably would have been a lot better off staying away and talking from outside of the country as opposed to having to go back in, because people thought that could happen and it did happen. And it's a horrible thing,” he said.

However, he 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. If I were losing in the polls, they wouldn't even be talking about me and I wouldn't have had any legal fees.”

Apart from the civil fraud case in New York, Trump faces 91 criminal counts, including allegations of electoral interference in the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.

He claims that the cases are “just a way of hurting me in the election”.

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HT News Desk
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