did a full 180

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

February 10, 2020

.polaris__post-meta--date { display: none; } .polaris__post-meta--date.no-script { display: block; padding-left: 45px } February 10, 2020

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."

Trump suggests he'd like to model American criminal law on drug dealing on authoritarian systems like China, where dealers are executed: "Countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China." pic.twitter.com/9WprysjJAX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2020

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.