Biden rips into Trump for not standing up to Putin amid suspicions he ordered the poisoning of Russia's top opposition leader
- Former Vice President Joe Biden excoriated President Donald Trump for not challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin after the suspected poisoning of Russia's opposition leader, Alexei Navalny.
- "Donald Trump continues to cozy up to Russia while Putin persecutes civil society and journalists," Biden tweeted.
- Navalny is Putin's most prominent critic. He's hospitalized and in a coma, and set to be taken to Germany for further treatment.
- Trump has remained largely silent on the matter as other world leaders offer assistance and asylum to Navalny.
Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed President Donald Trump for not standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
"Donald Trump continues to cozy up to Russia while Putin persecutes civil society and journalists," Biden tweeted. "Now, opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in a coma after being poisoned. It's unacceptable. Unlike Trump, I'll defend our democratic values and stand up to autocrats like Putin."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Navalny's team suspects he was poisoned by the Kremlin via tea he drank prior to a flight back to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk.
The anti-corruption campaigner is Putin's most prominent critic. He campaigned to challenge Putin in 2018 but was barred from running.
Though authorities initially barred Navalny from being transferred from the Siberian hospital where he's being treated, Russian officials on Friday said they would allow the politician to be taken to Germany for treatment.
Trump has barely acknowledged the suspected poisoning, which is part of a broader trend of the president downplaying Putin's authoritarian behavior.
"We're looking at it," Trump said on Thursday when a reporter asked about Navalny.
Meanwhile, other world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday said they're both willing to offer Navalny medical assistance and asylum.
While Trump has remained largely silent on the matter, national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien expressed concern.
"It's extraordinarily concerning and if the Russians were behind this ... it's something that we're going to factor into how we deal with the Russians going forward," O'Brien said of Navalny in an interview on Fox News on Thursday.