Former President Donald Trump equated the legal and political dilemmas he is facing with the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Fox News‘s Laura Ingraham questioned Trump’s take on Navalny’s death during a town hall Tuesday evening. Trump had previously shied away from criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and did not criticize Putin when responding.
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“Navalny was a very sad situation. And he’s very brave. He was a very brave guy because he went back; he could have stayed away,” Trump first answered. “And it’s a horrible thing. But it’s happening in our country too. We are turning into a communist country in many ways.”
Ingraham continued to press Trump on follow-up questions.
“Do you see yourself as a potential political prisoner in the United States?” she asked. “Because that’s their goal is to put you in jail behind bars for the rest of your life.”
“If I was losing in the polls, they wouldn’t even be talking about me,” Trump answered. “And I wouldn’t have had any legal fees.”
Later during the town hall, Ingraham asked Trump about New York Judge Arthur Engoron ordering Trump and his associates to pay roughly $364 million in penalties after a monthslong civil fraud trial.
“It’s a form of Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism. The guy’s a nut job,” Trump said. “I’ve known this for a long time and I’ve said it openly. No jury, no anything. Leticia James is [a] horrible attorney general in New York, campaigned on: ‘I will get Trump. I will get Trump.’”
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump’s final GOP primary rival, slammed Trump’s comments as the town hall aired.
“Donald Trump compares America to Russia again,” she posted on X. “That’s not America First. That’s the kind of garbage you hear from liberals.”
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The two candidates will face off Saturday during the Palmetto State’s GOP primary. Haley trails Trump by an average of roughly 25 points.
But Haley defiantly resisted dropping out of the race in a speech Tuesday afternoon, mere hours before Trump filmed his town hall with Ingraham.
