Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's only rival in the US Republican primary, attacked the former president on Sunday for his silence on the death of Russian foe Alexei Navalny and his hostile comments towards NATO.
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“The fact that he says nothing about Navalny shows that he is either on the side of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and thinks it's OK for him to kill his political opponents, or he just doesn't think so.” This is an important matter,” Haley told ABC.
Alexei Navalny's death, announced Friday in an Arctic prison about which the Kremlin has remained silent, sparked a wave of outrage in Western countries, with President Joe Biden reiterating that his Russian counterpart was “responsible.”
But the Republican Trump, predecessor of the Democrat Biden in the White House and who dreams of a return there, said not a word this weekend about the death of Navalny, Russia or Mr. Putin.
AFP
His campaign team referred reporters who questioned him to Donald Trump's latest post on his network Truth Social: “America is no longer respected because we have a president who is incompetent, weak and doesn't understand what the world thinks.”
Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador under the Trump administration (2017-2021) and ex-governor of South Carolina, where the Republican primaries will take place on February 24th, also criticized the “chilling” statements. » Last weekend from his competitor against the solidarity mechanisms between NATO allies towards Moscow.
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“All he did back then was strengthen Putin,” the Republican candidate said.
“Let's remind the American people that Putin said that after taking Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics would be next… These are NATO countries and that immediately puts America in a war situation,” Nikki Haley warned.