(TotalConservative.com) – Former President Donald Trump seemed confused about one of his own stated policy proposals while being questioned in a Monday interview with Fox News.
Trump mentioned pardoning Alice Johnson while being interviewed by Bret Baier. Johnson was locked up for 21 years after she was convicted of playing a part in a cocaine trafficking ring. Since being released, Johnson is now an advocate for criminal justice reform.
When Trump mentioned Johnson in the interview, Baier responded that she would “be killed under your plan.” The former president appeared flustered by the response and then Baier added, “As a drug dealer.”
“No,” Trump repeated a few times, still flustered, saying that “it would depend on the severity [of the crime].”
The plan Baier was referring to comes from statements Trump made last year in November on the day he officially announced his 2024 presidential campaign. During his speech, Trump said he would “ask Congress for legislation ensuring… drug dealers and human traffickers… responsible for death, carnage, and crime all over [the United States]… to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts,” which he said was “the only way” to deal with them.
Trump gave some numbers to back up his claim, saying that an average drug dealer “will kill 500 people” indirectly from selling drugs, and “not to mention, the destruction of families” he added.
The death penalty is a hotly debated form of punishment in America, with states divided on the issue almost evenly down the middle. 24 states currently allow the death penalty, 23 have banned it, and 3 have a governor-imposed moratorium.
Trump’s biggest rival for the 2024 GOP nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, recently lowered the death penalty threshold in the Sunshine State to make repeat offenders who rape a child under the age of 12 to be eligible for the death penalty.
Copyright 2023, TotalConservative.com
