The death penalty has been either abolished or suspended in most of Europe and Latin America, and parts of the U.S. have rejected it as well. Presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, however, is campaigning on not only maintaining the death penalty, but expanding it to include drug trafficking.
During an early July campaign speech in Doral, Florida, Trump vowed, "We will institute the powerful death penalty for drug dealers…. And we will never allow mothers to watch their child hopelessly dying in their arms, screaming, 'What can I do? What can I do? Help me God, what can I do?'"
In a column for the conservative website The Bulwark Thursday, Never Trumper Jonathan V. Last slams Trump's views and proposals as a recipe for "dictatorship."
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Last notes that Trump, who is facing three criminal indictments and was convicted of a fourth, repeatedly paints himself as a victim of the judicial system while claiming to be the "law and order" candidate.
"Any part of the justice system which intersects with his behavior is corrupt and illegitimate — but this same justice system should be used to execute criminals who the maximum leader deems problematic," Last writes.
"That's dictatorship. Pure and simple. It is the official policy of the leader of the Republican Party. And I defy anyone to show me an elected Republican in good standing who will contradict it."
Last says of Trump's Doral speech, "I hope you click and listen because the entire thing is bananas, with the background music and atmospherics."
Another thing Last finds disturbing about the speech is the way that Trump casually goes from promoting the death penalty to "complaining about airports."
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"We have spent a great deal of time over the last two weeks talking about Joe Biden's cognitive abilities," Last writes. "Whatever you think of Biden, Trump is clearly compromised. This is flat-out nuts."
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Read Jonathan V. Last's full Bulwark column at this link and watch the Trump video below.