"Dictators end up dead in a ditch" - Martina Navratilova shares feelings about Bashar al-Assad's exile from Syria

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has shared her thoughts on ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, terming him a "dictator." After Islamist-led rebels captured Damascus on Sunday (Dec. 8), Assad and his family fled to Moscow, Russia, and were granted asylum "out of humanitarian considerations".

Reacting to a post by The Economist's Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom where he humorously remarked that Russia had accepted its "first Syrian refugee", Navratilova commented:

"It never ends well for dictators - they end up dead in a ditch somewhere, executed by the mob or on the run forever."

The tennis legend again reacted to Texas Democrat party strategist Olivia Julianna when she criticized Donald Trump aide Tulsi Gabbard for suggesting that Assad is not America's enemy.

"How disgusting of a person to sit there with a smile on your face when speaking about Assad," Julianna wrote in her pose. "A truly evil man," she said of the former Syrian leader.

Concurring with the assessment, Navratilova said, "Anybody who tries to be neutral about Assad, who tries to make him sound normal, is just evil."

In the video, Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman turned Donald Trump supporter, told MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, "Assad is not an enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States." Notably, Trump has nominated Gabbard, to serve as his Director of National Intelligence once he takes oath in January.

Martina Navratilova also reposted an ITV News article reporting that the rebels have freed thousands of prisoners from Syria's "human slaughterhouse" prisons. Reacting to a post claiming that the children seen in footage from Syria's liberated jails are believed to have been born to women raped by their captors, Navratilova said:

"Assad is evil, of that there can be absolutely no doubt."

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Martina Navratilova does not shy away from sharing her views on politics

Day Ten: The Championships - Wimbledon 2024 - Source: Getty

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion is quite vocal about her political opinions on social media, often engaging with accounts commenting on political content on X. Martina Navratilova is a supporter of the Democrat party, and endorsed Kamala Harris in this year's presidential election.

At the same time, she has been quite open about her distaste for the eventual victor of the election, Republican Donald Trump. The 68-year-old has been extremely critical of Trump's proposed policies, particularly his stance on abortion. In 2022, a Republican-majority Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion.