Donald Trump's rival in the Republican primaries, Nikki Haley, called the former president's recent comments about NATO “chilling” and said the statements strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When you hear Donald Trump say in South Carolina a week ago that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies if they weren't supporting him, that's chilling because all he did at that point was empower Putin,” Haley said on Sunday ( 18) on ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump said on February 10 that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever they want” with any NATO member country that fails to meet defense spending guidelines.
“NATO was arrested until I showed up,” Trump said at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Haley’s home state. “I said, 'Everybody's going to pay.' They said, 'Well, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us?' I said, 'Absolutely not.' They didn’t believe the answer.”
Haley's comments followed the death of Russian opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny while in prison on Friday.
The cause of his death was unclear, but the news drew a strong reaction from Western leaders, including President Joe Biden, who placed the blame on the Russian leader, saying that “what happened to Navalny is further proof of Putin’s brutality.” .”
Trump has refused to directly address Navalny's death. When asked by CNN on Friday whether the former president had an answer about Navalny's death, the Trump campaign criticized Biden and said “America is no longer respected.”
Haley was harshly critical of Trump and his alleged support for Putin.
“He sided with a guy who kills his political opponents. He sided with a thug who arrests American journalists and holds them hostage, and he sided with a guy who wanted to make a point to the Russian people: 'Don't challenge me in the next election or it will happen to you too',” he said. Haley.
The former UN ambassador and former governor of South Carolina on Saturday highlighted Trump's recent legal troubles, claiming that the reason he may not have spoken out about Navalny's death is because “he is distracted.”
“He may not be saying anything because he is distracted by his court cases. This is a very big possibility. There are many of them. We know he said he's going to spend more time in court than on the campaign trail,” Haley said at a campaign stop in Irmo, South Carolina, a week before the state's Republican primary.
His comments came a day after Trump was fined $355 million at his civil fraud trial in New York. The former president was also recently ordered in a defamation case to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll. He faces four other criminal charges.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
