Former Rep. Liz Cheney warned there was a “Putin wing” in the Republican Party and said that if Donald Trump was re-elected he could “take over the West Wing of the White House.”
His comments to CNN It came after former President Trump refused to condemn Russia following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and encouraged the Kremlin to attack NATO allies.
Cheney said: “We have to take seriously the extent to which there is now a Putin wing in the Republican Party.”
“I think the issue this election cycle is ensuring that the Putin wing of the Republican Party doesn’t take over the West Wing of the White House.”
Trump has been criticized for “siding with” Russia after he failed to mention Russian President Vladimir Putin in his response to Navalny’s death, in stark contrast to President Joe Biden, who blamed “Putin and his thugs.”
Liz Cheney criticized former President Donald Trump for not condemning Russia and Vladimir Putin
Speaking to CNN, he warned that there is now a “Putin wing” in the Republican Party.
Navalny, 47, was the leader of the opposition to the Kremlin and was being held in a penal colony in the Arctic, where he was found dead on Friday and many claimed he was “murdered” by Vladimir Putin’s regime.
On Sunday, his body was found to show signs of bruising consistent with having been held down while suffering a seizure, raising fears that he may have been murdered on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
When Biden addressed his death, he said, “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.” Putin is responsible. What happened to Navalny is further proof of Putin’s brutality. Nobody should be fooled.
Trump, on the other hand, did not even directly mention Navalny in his response and instead posted about his own criminal cases and his political opponents.
Cheney said: “When you think about Donald Trump, for example, promising retaliation, what Vladimir Putin did to Navalny is what looks like retribution in a country where a leader is not subject to the rule of law.”
Similarly, Nikki Haley criticized Trump for what she called his “chilling” response to Navalny’s death.
The 2024 hopeful said Trump’s silence on Navalny’s death showed the former president was “on the side” of Putin or a sense of apathy toward a world leader killing his opponent.
Trump did not mention Putin in his response to Navalny’s death and previously encouraged Russia to attack NATO allies.
Vladimir Putin (pictured) has been accused of approving his assassination
She told ABC News: “It’s actually quite surprising that he… doesn’t acknowledge anything with Navalny.”
“Either he sides with Putin and thinks it’s okay that Putin killed one of his political opponents, or he just doesn’t think it’s a big deal,” he added. ‘Either of the two is worrying. Any of them are a problem.
It comes after Trump received a series of backlash for encouraging Putin to attack rogue NATO allied countries.
Trump told a crowd in Conway, South Carolina, last weekend that if he were president again, he would not protect NATO allies against Russia if they do not pay their fair share to the alliance.
‘The president of a big country stood up and said ‘if we don’t pay and we are attacked by Russia, will they protect us?’ I said you didn’t pay, are you in default? He said, ‘Yeah, let’s say that happened.’
‘No, I wouldn’t protect you,’ Trump said last Saturday. “In fact, I would encourage them [Russia] do whatever they want.
‘You have to pay! You have to pay your bills.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said his comment “undermines all of our security, including that of the United States, and puts American and European soldiers at greater risk.”
Cheney said in the new interview: “He has basically made it clear that under a Trump administration, the United States is unlikely to live up to its commitments to NATO.”
The former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley criticized former President Donald Trump for remaining silent about the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prisoner and political rival Alexei Navalny.
Haley has become increasingly critical of Trump’s soft stance on Russia and Putin’s “empowerment.” Pictured: Trump and Putin speak during the APEC Leaders Summit in Vietnam on November 11, 2017.
He called his comments “dangerous” and said they show “a complete lack of understanding of America’s role in the world.”
Cheney also did not rule out running for president as a third-party candidate, but added that she would do so.Whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump.”
Haley also criticized his comments about NATO, saying: ‘When you hear Donald Trump say in South Carolina a week ago that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies if they weren’t doing everything they could.
“That’s chilling, because all he did at that moment was empower Putin.
“And all he did in that moment was side with a guy who kills his political opponents, he sided with a thug who arrests American journalists and holds them hostage, and he sided with a guy who I wanted to make it clear to the Russian government people, do not challenge me in the next election or this will happen to you too.’