Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President Trump's latest comments about China would be ironic if they weren't so disturbing.

Trump hosted governors from around the country on Monday and gave a wide-ranging speech where he complained about the European Union's apparent bullying and then totally reversed his stance on criminal justice reform. While Trump touted clemency for drug offenders as recently as in his Super Bowl ad, he complimented China's "maximum penalty" for "drug dealers" and how it's led to the country having "very little drug problem."

Trump first complimented what's going on in the authoritarian government of China, and then praised some of the governors in front of him. "States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers don't have a drug problem," Trump said, though he added "I don't know if our country is ready for that."

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In contrast, Trump's Super Bowl ad featured Alice Marie Johnson thanking the president for granting her clemency after she'd been in prison for more than 20 years on drug-related charges. The ad was reportedly Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's way of appealing to black voters.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.