Haley on Putin after death of Navalny: ‘This is what he always does’

Nikki Haley on Sunday blamed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death on President Vladimir Putin, warning that his soft talk towards Russia could encourage Russian aggression.

Navalny’s death in a Russian prison was announced on Friday and was quickly denounced as a possible political assassination by Putin’s critics and the Biden administration.

“When we look at President Putin’s actions, we must remember that Russia is not our friend. If President Putin’s mouth is open, he is lying,” she said on Sunday. , speaking at a FOX News town hall. “Putin knows exactly what he did to Mr. Navalny. Look at the situation, this is what he always does. He kills his political opponents. He killed an American journalist. They have arrested and held hostages, and they make no bones about the fact that they want to destroy America.”

Russian authorities told Navalny’s family that he died of “sudden death syndrome.” No one has been able to see Navalny’s body or conduct an independent investigation into his death.

Haley also criticized her Republican rival, former President Trump, for past comments praising Putin and recent comments in which he said he would “encourage” Russia to go after NATO allies who don’t pay their share. .

The former South Carolina governor called NATO’s comments “harmful” and called on President Trump to get tougher on Russia.

“The best thing we can do for Russia is to let them know we’re closing in on them and make sure they know we’ll hold them accountable for anything they do.” That’s the thing,” she said. “That includes hurting our allies.”

“Russia is actually very intimidated by NATO. China is intimidated by NATO,” she continued. “But the one thing we will not do is not separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters who make us strong. We will not be separated from our friends in the name of appeasing our enemies.”

Haley said President Trump’s message encouraging NATO allies to increase funding for NATO is the right thing to do, but “the wrong way to go about it.”

“We must make sure to tell our partners that it is in their best interest and in the best interest of the alliance to exercise self-respect,” she said. “And we should let them do it, but there’s a right way to do it and there’s a wrong way to do it, the way Mr. Trump did it.”

Haley and Trump are scheduled to face off in South Carolina’s presidential primary on Saturday. Trump has a 32-point lead in Palmetto State polls, according to polling averages maintained by Hill/Decision Desk.