The newly elected President of the United States (U.S.), Donald Trump, stated on Tuesday that he would direct the Department of Justice to “vigorously enforce” the death penalty to protect U.S. citizens from “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters” once he assumes office on January 20th.
Trump’s statement on his social media, Truth Social, came in response to President Joe Biden’s announcement on Monday that he had commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will order the Department of Justice to vigorously enforce the death penalty to protect U.S. families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump declared.
During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump reinstated federal executions after nearly a 20-year hiatus.
Biden, who opposed the death penalty during his presidential campaign, halted federal executions when he took office in January 2021.
Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a president’s successor, although the death penalty can be more aggressively pursued in future cases.
Trump’s transition team on Monday condemned Biden’s decision, calling it reprehensible and favoring inmates who are “among the worst murderers in the world.”
