Trump Floats Death Penalty for Drug Dealers

Acknowledging Americans might not “be ready for it,” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called for the death penalty for drug dealers to help combat the effects of becoming a “drug-infested nation.”

Trump made the comments during a speech at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, carried live by Newsmax on Friday, a key battleground in the upcoming election. Trump said a drug dealer in the U.S. kills 500 people, on average, over the course of dealing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs. 

“So a drug dealer kills 500 people. And the only thing they would understand would be the death penalty. If you had the death penalty for drug dealers, you wouldn't have any more drugs,” Trump told the crowd.

Trump recounted a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first term as president.

“Why don't you have a drug problem?” Trump said he asked Xi. “'Because we have the death penalty,' he said, for drug dealers. 'If they sell drugs, they die, he said.' … but they do in many other countries. In countries where you have that, you don't have a drug problem. And we are becoming a drug-infested nation, whether you like it or not,” Trump said.

“And if you did that, meaningfully, you will in one week, stop the drug problem. Nobody's going to be selling drugs. I don’t know that the country’s ready for it, but they should,” Trump added.

Trump also took aim at Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris over her first interview since becoming the nominee more than 40 days ago. He assailed Harris for being afraid to do the interview one-on-one, despite it being pre-taped and done on the Democrat-friendly CNN, he said.

“Did you see her on television last night? Sitting propped up in a desk with this guy, this ‘tampon Tim,’” Trump said of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate.  

“And if you're too weak to do a one-on-one interview with a person that was so soft. You know, I know Dana. She's always, you know, always nasty. She was so nice to the Democrats,” Trump said. “But it was a very weak interview, from the standpoint of CNN.

"I think CNN should be ashamed of themselves. … If that were me: Sir, I heard you want the death penalty for drug dealers. Why? Well, you know, I'd like to end the drug epidemic, if that's OK.”

Trump also panned the mainstream media outlets who reported on his appearance and alleged altercation at Arlington National Cemetery this week with Gold Star families who were honoring sons, daughters and family members were killed three earlier at Abbey Gate at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport. Trump gave his side of the event, not attended by President Joe Biden or Harris.

Trump said he was at Arlington at the request of some of the 13 Gold Star families.

“Then they said to me … 'Sir, would it be possible for you to have a picture with us by the tombstone of my son?' … I said, 'Absolutely.' I wasn't doing it for, I don't need publicity. I get a lot of publicity. I would like to get a lot less publicity. … I'm the only guy who would hire a public relations agent to get less publicity,” Trump said.

“And then later on that day, I heard that we were using the graves of those soldiers for public relations purposes, you know, and that was all put out by the White House,” Trump said. "Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent. And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations services, and I didn't.”

The suicide bombing came in August 2021 amid Biden’s “incompetent” withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was a goal of Trump’s when he was in office.

“And pulling out was OK, but not pulling out like a bunch of incompetent fools,” he said.

“And we were getting out,” he said separately over his own plan. “I had it down to 5,000 people. But we were going to keep Bagram, which is the big air base, one of the biggest in the world. We're keeping Bagram for a different reason. One hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons, right?”

Mark Swanson ✉

Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.

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