Trump promises death penalty for ‘rapists, murderers’ after Biden pardons
Al Jazeera
During his first term in office, Trump oversaw a series of federal executions unparalleled in modern history.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has promised to step up the use of the death penalty during his second term in office, saying he will go after “rapists, murderers, and monsters”.
Trump’s announcement on Tuesday came after outgoing President Joe Biden used his presidential pardon powers to reduce the sentences of nearly all federal prisoners on death row to life imprisonment without parole.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump said in a social media post. “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
During his first term in office, Trump resumed federal executions after a nearly 20-year pause, overseeing the executions of 13 people. That figure was higher than any president in modern history.
While people in the US continue to support the death penalty for crimes such as murder, that support is at its lowest point in decades, dropping from 80 percent in favour in 1994 to 53 percent in 2024, according to Gallup polling. In the same period, opposition has risen from 16 percent to 43 percent.
