President Donald Trump told the 37 people on death row whose sentences were commuted by Joe Biden to “go to hell” in a social media post on Christmas Day.
The president-elect, who has long been a vocal advocate of the death penalty, slammed Biden’s decision on his Truth Social platform after wishing his political opponents, whom he called “radical left lunatics,” a Merry Christmas.
He then turned to those to whom Biden showed leniency in the ruling announced Monday. Joe Biden. I’m not going to wish those lucky “souls” a Merry Christmas, but instead I’m going to say, “Go to hell!” ”
Biden’s move would commute the death sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole, and comes after campaigners had warned that executions were likely to occur with Trump’s return to the White House. It was under pressure.
The exception applied to three men convicted of crimes considered terrorism or hate crimes, including Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Biden, once a supporter of the death penalty, said in a statement: “My conscience leads me…more than ever to believe that we must end the death penalty at the federal level.” I cannot stand still and allow the new administration to resume executions that I have halted. ”
President Trump reinstated the federal death penalty in his first term after a 17-year hiatus, ultimately serving more presidents than the previous 10 presidents combined.
Biden’s job reduction order drew praise from activists including Martin Luther King III, the son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The majority of those whose sentences were commuted were people of color, with 38% being black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
One of Trump’s earliest forays into politics came in 1989, when he accused the rape of a woman jogging in New York City’s Central Park and the subsequent arrest of five black and Latino teenagers. In response, a full-page advertisement called for the reinstatement of the death penalty. He was prosecuted and ultimately convicted. All five men denied involvement, but were ultimately acquitted and released after another man made a belated confession that was confirmed by DNA testing.
The men, now in their 50s, are accused of falsely claiming that Trump had pleaded guilty during a presidential debate with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia in September and that the victims had been murdered. He sued him for defamation.
In another part of his Christmas post, President Trump spoke of Chinese soldiers stationed at the Panama Canal (who has publicly considered returning the canal to the United States) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (who he He sarcastically expressed his seasonal greetings to the Japanese people (who mocked him with his title). “Governor” in the latest of several humiliating provocations since winning the November presidential election.
“Merry Christmas to everyone, including the great Chinese soldiers who lovingly but illegally operated the Panama Canal (110 years ago, 38,000 people died while building it). “We always make sure that the U.S. is spending billions of dollars on ‘repairs,’ but we’re not saying anything about ‘anything.'” wrote.
“Also to Canada’s Governor Justin Trudeau: National taxes are too high, but if Canada became the 51st province, taxes would be cut by more than 60% and business would instantly double in size. Worldwide. All countries will be equally protected militarily.”
Christmas Wishes also went to the residents of Greenland, which it said was “necessary to the United States for national security purposes, the people of Greenland want a United States presence, and so do we.” This was a reference to his call during his first presidency for Denmark, which has territorial sovereignty, to sell territory to the United States. The autonomous governments of Denmark and Greenland said it was not for sale.
In a subsequent unrelated post, Trump wrote that he had met Canadian former ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky and asked him to run for prime minister, “soon to be known as Governor of Canada.”
“Although he wasn’t interested, I think Canadians should start a Wayne Gretzky draft campaign,” Trump wrote. “It’ll be so fun to see!”
