California Democrat Representative Ted Lieu and MSNBC host Alex Witt have put forward a theory suggesting a link between former President Donald Trump’s recent comments about NATO and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison.
During an interview on MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports, Lieu drew attention to the timing of Navalny’s death and Trump’s remarks, calling it “quite a coincidence.” Witt asked Lieu about Navalny’s death and President Joe Biden’s assertion of Putin’s responsibility, prompting Lieu to directly connect the events to Trump’s comments.
Lieu highlighted Trump’s rally statement where he implied that NATO allies who owed dues would not be defended against Russia, suggesting they could do “whatever the hell they want.” Lieu characterized this language as “traitorous” and speculated that Russia interpreted it as a green light to take aggressive actions.
That is crazy. That is traitorous language. Russia certainly was listening, and I think they thought, hey, we now have a green light to do all sorts of crazy stuff,” Lieu said to Witt, drawing the direct line to the death of Navalny as a consequence of Trump’s permission.
Witt followed up by questioning whether Trump’s remarks could have emboldened Putin, particularly considering Navalny’s seemingly healthy appearance the day before his death contrasted with his sudden demise.
Lieu reinforced the notion of a correlation between Trump’s rhetoric and Navalny’s death, citing Russia’s attentiveness to the former president’s statements.
The conversation between Lieu and Witt posited a cause-and-effect relationship between Trump’s NATO comments and Navalny’s death, implying that Russia perceived Trump’s remarks as encouragement for aggressive behavior.
“Because to your other point, the day before he died, he looked to be in perfectly good health. He’d spoken with his wife. He appeared via zoom, in some sort of a legal arrangement that he had to do there. We’re looking at pictures right there. He was joking with the guards, joking with the judge or an attorney there. He looked absolutely fine,” sh said. “The next day drops dead?”
Lieu sewed up their cause and effect outline by adding, “I think it’s quite a coincidence. And certainly Russia is listening to what the former president is saying. He’s saying crazy stuff.”
