President-elect Trump’s spokesman lashed out Monday at President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 federal inmates, saying the move is “a slap in the face to the victims, their families and their loved ones.” “
In a brief statement, Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, outlined the various forms of crime between Biden and Trump.
“These are some of the worst killers in the world and this despicable decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families and their loved ones,” he said in a statement. “President Trump represents the law, which will return when he returns to the White House after being elected by the overwhelming majority of the American people.”
BIDEN SETS RECORD FOR FIRST-TERM SURGERY, HERE’S HOW OTHER PRESIDENTS
Social media exploded on Monday after President Biden announced that he would commute the sentences of all inmates on death row. (AP)
The White House announced that Biden commuted the death sentences to life in prison without parole on Monday. Among the victims of these 37 men are law enforcement officers, children and other prisoners.
“Biden’s decision is a slap in the face to the victims and victims’ families who thought justice would be served,” wrote Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on X.
Many other Republican lawmakers expressed similar reactions.
Biden believes the federal death penalty should only be imposed for acts of terrorism and hate murder, the White House said.
“When President Biden took office, his administration enacted a moratorium on federal executions, and his action today will prevent the next administration from issuing sentences that cannot be issued under current policy and practice,” the White House said.
‘PIECE’ APPLAUSES 11TH HOUR DECISION TO KEEP KILLERS ON ‘BRUTAL’ DEATH ROW.
The three federal inmates whose death sentences have not been commuted are Robert Bowers, responsible for the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, which left 11 dead; Dylann Roof, the White supremacist who killed nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who worked with his late brother to carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured hundreds.
Biden said the move would prevent the Trump administration from carrying out massacres.
“In good conscience, I cannot go back and allow the new administration to re-sentence what I have suspended,” he said.
The move came after Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 19 inmates under house arrest during the COVID-19 crisis and pardoned 40 others, including his son, Hunter.
As of December 13, Biden has pardoned 65 people and commuted the sentences of 1,634 prisoners during his time as president, according to the Justice Department.
Hunter Biden flashes a big smile as he leaves an Arby’s in Santa Barbara on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. This is the first time President Joe Biden’s son has been photographed since he was pardoned by his father. (Fox News Digital Direct Image)
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS PROGRAM
“The President has issued more sentences in this presidency than any of his predecessors during the same period when they started,” White House officials said in a previous statement.
Trump has taken a hard line on the death penalty, previously suggesting that drug dealers should be eligible for the maximum penalty.
“We’re going to ask for every person who sells drugs, who is caught selling drugs, to receive the death penalty for their crimes,” Trump said earlier this year during a campaign trial. “Because that’s the only way.”
Source link
