Trump blasts Biden over death sentence commutations, says 'makes no sense'

Donald Trump criticised Joe Biden on Tuesday for commuting the sentences of nearly every federal prisoner on death row, as the president-elect prepares to take office.

In his final month as president, Biden announced on Monday that he had converted the death sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates to life without the possibility of parole.

The commuted sentences included those of nine individuals convicted of murdering fellow prisoners, four convicted of murders during bank robberies, and one who killed a prison guard.

“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform.

“When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”

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Biden had imposed a moratorium on the federal death penalty but was under pressure to act further before leaving the White House on January 20, amid signals from Republican Trump that he would resume the practice.

Biden rebuked the inmates he had spared and “their despicable acts,” but said he had been guided by “my conscience and my experience” to prevent the incoming Trump administration from resuming executions.

He excluded three men from his order, however – one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, a gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018 and a white supremacist who shot nine Black churchgoers dead in 2015.

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Trump confirmed he would direct the Justice Department to “vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”

“We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” he added.

With inputs from agencies.