Former President Donald Trump said he wasn’t sure the American public was “ready” to apply the death penalty to drug traffickers to address the country’s overdose death toll.
President Trump has previously called for the death penalty to be imposed on drug traffickers, saying it was necessary to save lives. Over 100,000 Americans will die from drug overdoses in 2021 according to Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Related article: Brett Byer criticizes Trump for hiring ‘best talent’, many of whom now turn against Trump)
“I don’t know if this country is ready for that,” Trump told Fox News anchor Brett Byer later in an interview at the former president’s own Bedminster, N.J., golf club. There just isn’t,” he said. . “Every time I say that, I think it’s not easy to say the death penalty. Including, drug dealers will kill about 500 people in their lifetime.”
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Byer challenged Trump, who signed the First Step Act during his presidency, to the fact that some of those released later committed violent crimes.
“I focused on non-violent crime,” Trump said, citing the case of Alice Johnson, one of the most prominent people released under the law.
“If it was the death penalty, she wouldn’t have done that. In other words, if it was the death penalty, she wouldn’t have answered that call,” Trump said of Johnson. “She wouldn’t have been a dealer. She was treated like she was treated.She was treated very unfairly.She has 48 years to live.”
But Trump cited China and Singapore as examples of countries that have tackled the drug problem.
“If you want to stop drugs, there’s only one way to do it,” Trump said. “Death penalty for the dealer.”
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