Tim Scott blows off Trump’s NATO comments, silence on Navalny

Sen. Tim Scott (RS.C.) on Sunday dismissed former President Trump’s recent comments on NATO and his silence on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying instead that former President Trump He stressed that he believes he has made the world “safer”. House terminology.

Asked Sunday by CNN’s State of the Union anchor Jake Tapper why President Trump won’t consider Navalny’s death, Scott said: Let’s take a look at the challenges we face around the world today. ”

“And when President Trump was our president, there was no invasion of Ukraine like there was under President Obama,” he continued. “When President Trump left office, there was actually an all-out war going on in Ukraine. So when you ask the question about keeping Putin in check, looking at Donald Trump’s actions and his administration, there is no doubt that Ukraine is safer. One clear conclusion is that the world is safer, and America is indeed safer. Safer.”

Mr. Tapper pushed back on this claim, saying Mr. Navalny, who died in prison on Friday, was not “safe.” The 47-year-old Russian opposition leader was serving a 19-year sentence for extremism. In December, he was transferred from another prison to a maximum-security facility in Russia.

President Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s death, calling his death “further evidence of President Putin’s brutality.”

Trump has yet to speak publicly about Navalny’s death, and Republicans called on the former president to “condemn” Putin for Navalny’s death and the jailing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch. has drawn criticism from political opponents, including challenger Nikki Haley. He has been detained in Russia for nearly a year.

Over the weekend, Tapper shifted his focus to President Trump’s controversial comments about NATO. In it, the former president told how he was once questioned by an unidentified foreign leader about threatening not to protect member states that failed to meet the alliance’s defense spending goals.

Trump claimed to have told leaders he would “encourage” Russia to do whatever it wanted, and recalled saying, “Are you not paying?” you are a delinquent. ”

Mr. Tapper then played a clip of Mr. Scott’s remarks about NATO from three months ago, when the South Carolina lawmaker pointed out the importance of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. An attack on a NATO member state in Europe or North America would be “considered an attack against any nation.”

Asked how his remarks matched President Trump’s comments, Scott said, “I was 100 percent right at the time.”

“What we’ve seen from the beginning of the Ukraine war, without any question, is that Joe Biden is actually dragging his feet,” Scott said. “This is after a failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and instability in the Indo-Pacific. What we need is a strong U.S. This is leadership.”

Mr. Tapper pointed out that President Trump opposes further aid to Ukraine, to which Mr. Scott replied, “We have already supported Ukraine with over $100 billion. Biden said he dragged his feet into this conflict, look at the fact that we will follow Germany and we will follow Germany to help Ukraine…Ukraine…not a NATO ally, but they will help Ukraine. It meant we were helping. This was a really important first step that set us back months. What we’ve been doing since then is trying to catch up.”

Trump’s comments about NATO drew scrutiny from many politicians, including former U.N. ambassador Haley, who accused Trump of “siding with thugs” in reference to Putin.

Scott appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and called Haley’s proposal “ridiculous.”

“I don’t know what Nikki is doing right now. I think she’s hopeless, definitely she’s going to lose her home.” [by] Double digits,” Scott said, referring to the South Carolina primary scheduled for later this month.