This time with new ideas, regarding to his 2024 presidential campaign, former president Donald Trump has been in discussions with “close associates.”
Plans to reintroduce the death penalty, with a bevy of execution methods enacted by the federal government are among the topics that were discussed. According to a story by Rolling Stone that cited many sources close to Trump, it may be time to broadcast these executions as a means of discouraging violent crime and drug trafficking.
Trump has actually asked those who are close to him, “What do you think of firing squads?” RollingStone reported.
The article went on:
“Trump has talked about bringing back death by firing squad, by hanging, and, according to two of the sources, possibly even by guillotine. He has also, sources say, discussed group executions. Trump has floated these ideas while discussing planned campaign rhetoric and policy desires, as well as his disdain for President Biden’s approach to crime.”
He has even, one of the sources recounts, mused about televising footage of executions, including showing condemned prisoners in the final moments of their lives.”
Trump’s support for the federal government’s use of the firing squad and the hanging should not come as a surprise given that he has previously made similar comments. According to a Slate article from August 2020, the Department of Justice had proposed allowing hanging, electrocution, gassing, or gunshot as alternatives to lethal injection for executions at Trump’s behest.
The RollingStone reported, “The president believes this would help put the fear of God into violent criminals. He wanted to do some of these [things] when he was in office, but for whatever reasons didn’t have the chance.”
2020 saw a lot of criticism over the Trump administration’s prolific use of the death penalty. The federal government had executed more Americans in a single year than all the states put together, a phenomenon never before seen in the United States.
After the US Supreme Court dismissed a last-minute plea to halt the execution, one such individual, 40-year-old Bernard, was put to death by lethal injection at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
“In at least one instance late last year, according to the third source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, Trump privately mused about the possibility of creating a flashy, government-backed video-ad campaign that would accompany a federal revival of these execution methods. In Trump’s vision, these videos would include footage from these new executions, if not from the exact moments of death.”
The article was slammed by a representative for former President Trump, who called it, “More ridiculous and fake news from idiots who have no idea what they’re talking about, either these people are fabricating lies out of thin air, or Rolling Stone is allowing themselves to be duped by these morons.”
“And if [the drug dealer is] guilty, they get executed, and they send the bullet to the family and they want the family to pay for the cost of the bullet. If you want to stop the drug epidemic in this country, you better do that … [even if] it doesn’t sound nice,” in an October rally Trump said.
Sources: Trendingpoliticsnews, Rollingstone, Businessinsider, Slate