Former US president Donald Trump compared his current legal troubles with the persecution of Alexei Navalny this week in an interview with Fox News.
Navalny was a Russian opposition leader who ran for office in an attempt to advocate against corruption in Russia. He was considered by many to be one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's greatest opposers.
Navalny died earlier this month in an Arctic prison where he was sentenced to serve a three-decade prison term.
Trump's comparison
Trump's comparison statement comes following the $354.9 million penalty fine that he was ruled to pay last week by a New York judge. The judge's ruling will also prevent him from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years.
When discussing the ruling, Trump explained that the fine is "a form of communism or fascism."
Although Trump avoided the topic of Putin in the interview, he praised Navalny and described him as "a very brave guy."
“It’s happening in our country, too. We are turning into a communist country in many ways. I have eight or nine trials all because of the fact that ... I’m in politics," Trump said.
At a San Fransico fundraiser on Wednesday, United States President Joe Biden reacted to Trump's comparison to Navalny, stating, "It astounds me the things that are being said. I mean, if I stood here 10, 15 years ago and said any of this, you’d all think I should be committed.”
Despite the legal troubles Trump is facing, he still maintains a lead over his current election rival, former UN ambassador and former Palmetto State governor Nikki Haley.
Reuters contributed to this report