President Joe Biden previously said Russian President Vladimir Putin would face ‘devastating’ consequences if opposition leader Alexei Navalny perished in prison.
On Friday Russian news outlets announced that Navalny, 47, had died while serving a sentence in a Siberian prison – something that hasn’t been unilaterally confirmed by the U.S. government.
The president didn’t immediately react to the news but members of his administration and Democratic members of Congress went after Russian President Vladimir Putin as they spoke about Navalny’s death.
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Navalny’s death at the top of her appearance Friday at the Munich Security Conerence.
‘If confirmed this would be a further sign of Putin’s brutality,’ the vice president said. ‘Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible.’
Vice President Kamala Harris reacted to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death during an appearance Friday at the Munich Security Conference
A picture of Alexei Navalny from 2021. Navalny’s death has yet to be verified by the U.S. government but already White House officials and Democratic members of Congress are reacting
President Joe Biden (right) said that he told Russian President Vladimir (left) during their meeting in June 2021 that there would be ‘devastating’ consequences if Navalny died in prison
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Navalny’s ‘death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built.’
‘Russia is responsible for this,’ Blinken said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was being interviewed on NPR Friday morning as the news broke.
‘If it’s confirmed, it is a terrible tragedy. And given the Russian government’s long and sordid history of doing harm to its opponents it raises real and obvious questions about what happened here,’ Sullivan said.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner posted on X Firiday that, ‘The death of Alexei Navalny is yet another heartbreaking reminder of who Vladimir Putin is: a bloodthirsty tyrant who thinks he can get away with anything.’
‘It’s another reason why we must continue to stand with the cause of freedom in opposition to Putin’s brutality,’ the Virginia Democrat said.
Several Congressional Democrats reacted by hammering Republicans too.
‘Putin murders Navalny the same week Donald Trump invites Russia to invade Europe and MAGA Mike Johnson blocks aid to Ukraine,’ said Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Califoria Democrat. ‘This isn’t a coincidence, it’s the green light Putin has been given.’
Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, raised eyebrows when he said at a rally Saturday that he told NATO leaders during his presidency he would ‘encourage’ Russia ‘to do whatever the h*** they want’ to members who didn’t pay enough money into the alliance.
Congressional Democrats reacted to the news by lashing out at Russian President Vladimir Putin – but also pointing out recent comments made by former Republican President Donald Trump and encouraging House Republicans to take up a bill to fund Ukraine’s war effort
Additionally, the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to bring a Senate-passed supplemental spending bill to the House floor that would give additional funding to Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
‘More blood on Putin’s hand with the tragic death of Aleksei Navalny in prison, all for the “crime” of wanting a free Russia,’ Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin posted to X. ‘Why do Trump and his congressional enablers want to futher appease this Russian tyrant?’ Durbin asked.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, echoed his fellow Democrats’ comments about Trump in an X post about Navalny.
‘Mass murdering war criminal vladimir putin has murdered one of his most courageous critics,’ Pascrell wrote Friday morning. ‘Reminder that donald trump has openly encouraged putin to attack America’s allies and republicans are blocking aid to Ukraine.’
Rep. David Trone, a Maryland Democrat, posted to X that Navalny’s death should motivate Congress to pass the Ukraine funding bill.
‘Reports of the death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison are a stark reminder of the brutal oppression that Vladimir Putin is willing to use to stifle political opposition and treat millions of innocent people as pawns in his own game of chess,’ Trone said.
‘Americans and our allies must immediately provide vital military and humanitarian aid to allow Ukraine to successfully fight Russia’s invasion, protect its citizens, and defend its democracy,’ he added.
At a press conference in June 2021 after Biden met Putin at a summit in Geneva, the president was asked what he told Putin would happen if Navalny died in prison.
The 47-year-old opposition leader was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.
‘I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia,’ Biden said at the time.
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