President-elect Donald Trump recently outlined his agenda to bring back federal executions in full force after outgoing President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 inmates on death row. The controversial move has been part of Biden’s sweeping clemency he has granted to thousands of prisoners in his final days in office before Trump returns to the White House.
In a statement on Monday, Trump vowed to bring back executions for the nation’s most egregious criminals. “As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
According to the White House, Biden’s move to reclassify the sentences of the inmates on death to life without the possibility of parole would prevent President-elect Trump from “carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.” However, there were three men on federal death row who failed to meet the criteria to have been granted clemency.
The American Tribune reported on the reaction from Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) who described Biden’s move to commute the sentences as “totally nuts.” During an interview with Fox News, he said, “It’s two days before Christmas. I can only imagine the grief and the shock that these families are experiencing as they get ready for the holidays, remembering the loved ones that were lost and now having to deal with this sort of insult to injury.”
Schmitt opined that Biden was attempting to thwart the incoming Trump administration on his way out.“And I think Joe Biden, in his effort to ‘Trump-proof’, we saw some of that. For the next administration, whether it’s hiding the workers or things at the border, this is just beyond the pale.” He added, “And I think he’s cementing his status as one of the worst presidents in American history, certainly this side of Woodrow Wilson.”
Substantiating his argument, Schmitt illustrating the heinous crimes committed by the convicted murderers who had been sentenced to die. “It’s important, as a former prosecutor myself, I think it’s important to talk about the victims here,” he said, before explaining who Biden was commutin in gruesome detail. “Lexis Roberts went on a camping trip with her mother and Thomas Sanders. Thomas Sanders, on the way back, took her mother out and executed her in cold blood in front of Lexis, then slit Lexis Roberts’ throat and let her die in the woods,” he continued.
Without mincing any words, Schmitt slammed Biden for the move, asserting it is unconscionable. “This is someone that Joe Biden, on the eve of Christmas, decided to commute his sentence. This is nuts. This is totally nuts. And so, the outrage is real, it’s justified. And again, Joe Biden, on his way out, is again cementing his status as one of our worst presidents.”
Watch Sen. Schmitt below:
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