"Victim of fascism"

Trump compares himself to the late Navalny

Former President Donald Trump presents his view of things on "Fox News" ...(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Former US President Donald Trump is once again causing a stir with his world view. Because of his legal problems, he seriously compared himself to the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony.

At an appearance organized by the right-wing television station Fox News in the state of South Carolina on Tuesday (local time), Trump ranted that the fine of 355 million dollars (329 million euros) imposed on him by a New York court for financial fraud was "a form of Navalny".

Like Navalny, the right-wing populist described himself as a victim of a "form of communism or fascism". The USA was "turning into a communist country in many ways", he feared:

Navalny had died on Friday in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic. He was one of the most prominent critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2020, Navalny had narrowly survived poisoning with a nerve agent, for which he had blamed the Kremlin.

Trump called Putin a "genius"
 Trump was caught in the crossfire of criticism because, unlike many Western politicians and governments, he avoided blaming Putin for Navalny's death. In the past, Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Putin and even called him a "genius".

On Tuesday, Trump also did not mention the Russian president when asked by presenter Laura Ingraham about the Navalny case, but only vaguely referred to a "bad situation". The Republican presidential candidate described Navalny as a "very brave guy" because he had returned to Russia after being treated in Germany following the poison gas attack.

"He could have stayed away. And frankly, he probably would have fared much better if he had stayed away and spoken outside the country," Trump stated.

Commemoration of the late Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Trump's scam
He criticized the fact that things similar to the Navalny case were also happening in the USA - and cited the charges brought against him. Trump was sentenced to the 350 million dollar fine in a New York civil trial on Friday because he and his sons Donald Junior and Eric are alleged to have artificially inflated the assets of the family real estate empire by billions over the years in order to obtain favorable terms from banks and insurance companies. However, these accusations are not reminiscent of Navalny, but rather of the Kremlin and oligarch networks that the opposition figure has always denounced.

Four criminal charges were brought against Trump last year. These included his attempts to retroactively overturn his election defeat against current President Joe Biden in 2020 and his role in the storming of the congressional seat in Washington by fanatical Trump supporters in January 2021.

Trump wants to challenge Biden in the presidential election in November and, based on the course of the primaries so far, has the best chance of being nominated again by the Republicans. Another Republican primary will be held in South Carolina next weekend.