No, Trump was not silent on the murder of Navalny—he has long defended Putin killing journalists and critics
Will Trump do same to critics in US if he wins?
After the tragic news broke Friday of the death of pro-democracy activist and Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny while in a Russian prison, many in the media reported that Donald Trump had not commented on Navalny’s death for several days. Even Trump’s only remaining GOP presidential opponent Nikki Haley slammed Trump over his “silence” all weekend long—repeating that criticism again Monday morning on Fox News saying Trump is “weak in the news when it comes to Putin” because he has “yet to say anything about Navalny’s death.”
In reality, both the media and Haley have it totally wrong. Trump’s position on Putin killing journalists and dissidents like Navalny are so well-documented that he obviously didn’t feel the need to reiterate his position. Trump has repeatedly defended Putin killing his critics.
Even on Monday when Trump finally commented on Navalny, true to form he didn’t criticize Putin for imprisoning or murdering a critic—and he never will. However, what is more worrying is that given Trump’s focus in this campaign is “retribution,” there’s little doubt Trump will follow Putin’s playbook of punishing or even killing critics. (See MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner’s concerns on this point in clip below.)
The first time we saw Trump publicly defend Putin’s murder of those who documented Putin’s crimes or were pro-democracy activists was during the 2016 presidential campaign when he appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. In that December 2015 appearance, Trump began by praising Putin which caused MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to push bask stating, “Well, I mean, also [he] is a person who kills journalists, political opponents and....invades countries, obviously that would be a concern, would it not?”
Trump quickly jumped to Putin’s defense, stating, “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.” At that point a shocked Scarborough, repeated, “But, again: He kills journalists that don't agree with him.”
Did Trump denounce that Putin killed critics who dared to criticize him? Nope. Instead, Trump doubled down in his defense of Putin killing people like Navalny, stating, “Well, I think that our country does plenty of killing, too, Joe.”
And just one month into his presidency, Trump repeated his defense of Putin killing critics while being interviewed by his friend Bill O’Reilly--who at the time was still a Fox News anchor. When asked about Putin, Trump again instantly praised him as someone he had “respect” for Putin. To that O’Reilly emphatically responded about Russia’s leader, “But he’s a killer.”
Obviously, O’Reilly was referring to Putin detractors being killed over the years, such as the 2015 murder of vocal Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov who was mysteriously shot to death in Moscow just hours after telling Newsweek that Russia was “drowning” under Putin’s leadership and was swiftly becoming a fascist state. Nemtsov’s death came two days before he was set to lead an opposition rally in the Russian capital.
Others include Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who helped uncover a $230 million tax fraud that Russian government officials were involved in and covering up. He was arrested shortly thereafter and then died in a Russian prison in 2009. Magnistsky—who was beaten by Russian prison guards to death—was the reason The Magnitsky Act was enacted in the United States that sanctioned individuals in Russia suspected of involvement in Magnitsky’s death and other human rights violations.
And the list goes on and on from former Russian agent turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko to journalist Anna Politkovskaya and more. As CNN reported in an in-depth article, “The list of deceased detractors who may have potentially fallen foul of the Kremlin could fill a book.”
That is what O’Reilly meant when he said to Trump in 2017 about Putin, “But he’s a killer.” Trump—like in 2015—responded by not only refusing to criticize Putin, but also smearing the United States by stating: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
That is why Trump doesn’t need to comment now about Navalny’s death. His views are clear. He 100 percent defends Putin killing those who dare criticize him—be they journalists, pro-democracy activists, people uncovering Putin’s crimes or anyone else.
In fact, when Trump finally commented Monday about Navalny’s death, he offered not a shred of criticism for Putin. Rather his social media post only used Navalny’s death to amplify his own victimhood. Trump’s post began, “The sudden death of Alexei Navalny…” There was not even a mention that the 47-year-old Navalny—who appeared to be healthy the day before in court--was wrongly jailed by Putin and then killed for his continued criticism of the Russian leader.
From there Trump claimed the death of Navalny “made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country.” He then went on to slam prosecutors, the judicial system as he concluded by calling the United States as “A FAILING NATION.”
In contrast, President Biden stated on Friday that he had "no doubt" Putin was to blame for Navalny’s death and that he was looking at a "number of options" to punish Russia. Even Haley slammed Trump again on Monday saying “Trump is siding with a thug where half a million have been wounded or murdered because Putin invaded Ukraine.” She correctly added about the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, “He sided with a dictator who kills his political opponents.”
Yep, that is exactly who Trump has sided with over and over. What makes it so deeply concerning now is that Trump’s top priority if he wins in 2024 is “retribution.” He was vowed to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after Biden and his critics. And recently Trump repeated that the 2024 election is our nation’s “Final Battle,” promising his supporters that “With you at my side” we will “demolish” everyone who has opposed him from “the Fake News media” to “globalists” to “ the sick political class” and more. And what has Trump asked his supporters to help him do to these people? “We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all!”
Trump is not hiding he wants to “liberate” the United States from his critics. How he will do that is the question?
Let me ask: If Trump won in 2024 and soon began arresting his critics—from members of the media to even Democratic members of Congress such as Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, AOC and others-do you think MAGA would denounce that or cheer? You know the answer. And given MAGA’s embrace of violence, if some of those people were to mysteriously die in jail, do you have any doubt Trump and his base would cheer it? Of course they would.
No, Trump does not need to comment on Putin killing his critics. We all know where Trump stands on that. The only question is will Trump get a chance to do the same to his critics?!
MSNBC legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner shared on my SiriusXM show on Friday what he believes Trump would do to critics if he won in 2024:
Yes, he will do the same to his critics & perceived enemies. He got a taste of it while in office.
Recall his promise of retribution? Vote accordingly.
Haley is criticizing drumpf now; next thing you know, she’ll be begging to be his running mate. And, no, he should not be pardoned. That will not heal our country.