The remarks made by former president Trump on NATO were described by Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley as “bone-chilling” and as giving authority to Vladimir Putin of Russia.
On Sunday’s episode of ABC’s “This Week,” Haley expressed her dismay at Trump’s statement from last week in South Carolina, in which he implied that our allies would be invaded if they weren’t doing their part. She argued that this statement was empowering for Putin.
In a shocking declaration that he would not adhere to the collective-defense provision central to the alliance if reelected, Trump stated on February 10 that he would urge Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member countries that fails to satisfy defence budget criteria.
At a rally in Haley’s home state of Conway, South Carolina, Trump declared, “NATO was busted until I came along.” I warned that “everyone’s going to pay.” “Are you still going to protect us if we don’t pay?” they asked. I firmly stated, “Definitely not.” The response shocked them.
The remarks made by Haley came after Russian opposition leader and vocal critic of the Kremlin Alexey Navalny passed away on Friday while incarcerated.
While the exact circumstances surrounding his purported demise were not immediately apparent, Western officials were quick to condemn Putin, with President Joe Biden stating, “what has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality.”
Trump has chosen not to comment on the death of Navalny. When AWN contacted Trump’s campaign about his reaction to Navalny’s death on Friday, they cited a Trump post from 2016 on Truth Social, in which he attacked Biden and said, “America is no longer respected.” The post made no mention of Putin or Navalny.
On Sunday, Haley persisted in criticising Trump for what she perceived as his alleged backing of Putin.
He took the side of someone who murdered his political rivals. “He picked a side with a criminal who kidnaps American journalists and keeps them as hostages, and he picked a side with another Russian national who wanted to send a message to the Russian people: ‘Don’t challenge me in the next election or this will happen to you too,'” Haley said.
On Saturday, Trump’s current legal troubles were brought up by the former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor, who claimed that Trump might have avoided discussing Navalny’s death due to his distraction.
Perhaps he is too preoccupied with his legal matters to say anything at this time. That’s a highly probable outcome. You’ll find plenty of them. During a campaign stop in Irmo, South Carolina, a week before the state’s GOP primary, Haley acknowledged that the candidate had previously stated his intention to spend more time in court than on the campaign trail.
Just one day prior to her remarks, Trump was fined $355 million in his civil fraud trial in New York. In addition to facing four criminal accusations, the ex-president was recently ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83 million in a slander case.
