GEORGETOWN, S.C. Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley slammed Donald Trump on Thursday for being unwilling to call out Russian President Vladimir Putin over the death of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Donald Trump is siding with a dictator who kills his political opponents, Haley said at a rally ahead of the South Carolina GOP primary on Saturday.

Donald Trump is siding with a tyrant who arrests American journalists and holds them hostage. Donald Trump is siding with a man whos made no bones about the fact he wants to destroy America, she added.

Its the sharpest case shes made yet for why the former president doesnt deserve another chance at the White House.

Trump has yet to condemn Russia or Putin for the 47-year-old Navalnys death in an Arctic prison last week. Instead, Trump has compared his legal troubles he faces 91 criminal charges across several cases to the dissidents death.

It is a form of Navalny, Trump said at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday. It is a form of communism or fascism.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), stumping for Trump in South Carolina on Thursday, also dismissed Navalnys death, telling reporters, I really could care less.

Since Navalnys death, hundreds of people have been arrested across in Russia after they tried to pay tribute to him with flowers and candles. The Russian government is refusing to hand over Navalnys body unless his family agrees to a secret funeral.

President Joe Biden called Trumps remarks astounding at a fundraiser on Wednesday in San Francisco.

Hes comparing himself to Navalny and saying that because our countrys become a communist country, he was persecuted, just like Navalny was persecuted. Where the hell does this comes from, Biden said, according to a White House pool report. If I stood here 10 to 15 years ago and said all this, youd all think I should be committed.

On Thursday, Biden met with Navalnys wife , Yulia, and daughter, Dasha. His administration is expected to announce major sanctions against Russia on Friday, which coincides with the two-year anniversary of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

At her Thursday rally in South Carolina, Haley, the former governor of the state, continued to make her case for why Republicans would be better served in the November election without Trump at the top of the ticket. She pointed out that Republicans have lost successive elections both during and after Trumps presidency, and that they havent had much success recently, either.

Donald Trump has lost his immunity; hes going to be tried as citizen Trump, she said, of a recent court ruling denying his claim of immunity from prosecution. Republicans lost the vote on [impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas, Republicans lost the vote on Israel [aid funding], the RNC chair lost her job and he had his finger prints in all of that.

She added: How much more do we have to lose?

The crowd at Haleys rally on Thursday at an upscale hotel north of Charleston consisted mostly of Republicans who were tired of Trump and who believed he was taking their party in an ugly direction.

But one man who came to see Haley speak, Henry Moore, of Georgetown, said he fully backed Trump, dismissing his legal troubles and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection.

She would be a really good president. I dont think she can make it but Im supporting, Moore, a 75-year-old retiree, told HuffPost.

Hes an asshole when he talks, nobody likes the way he talks to people, he added of Trump, but I think they will vote for him if Nikki cant make it.