Trump Has Been Asking Advisers About Firing Squads, Guillotines: Rolling Stone

May 25, 2024

Former President Donald Trump has been asking advisers what they think of bringing back firing squads and other banned execution methods, Rolling Stone reports.

Rolling Stone spoke to three anonymous sources about the campaign-related conversations Trump has been having with his associates. According to these sources, Trump has on more than one occasion asked his aides questions like: "What do you think of firing squads?"

Two Rolling Stone sources say Trump has had discussions with his advisers about everything from bringing back group executions to using banned execution methods like the guillotine.

A third source who spoke to Rolling Stone said Trump has also privately considered if it would be possible to launch an ad campaign to promote these execution methods. This ad campaign would involve airing footage from the executions, the source said.

"The former president believes this would help put the fear of God into violent criminals," the source told Rolling Stone. "He wanted to do some of these things when he was in office, but for whatever reasons didn't have the chance."

A Trump spokesperson told Insider that Rolling Stone's third source's recount of a possible Trump ad campaign featuring televised executions is "ridiculous" and "fake news."

"Either these people are fabricating lies out of thin air, or Rolling Stone is allowing themselves to be duped by these morons," the Trump spokesperson told Insider.

But when asked about the sources' comments about Trump's interest in alternative execution methods, the spokesperson referred Insider to Trump's 2024 campaign announcement in November. During that speech, Trump was heard calling for the death penalty for anyone who "gets caught selling drugs."

At a rally in September, Trump also urged Congress to immediately institute the death penalty for drug dealers. This is despite Trump himself having granted pardons to people who served time for drug trafficking charges.

Trump ended his term in office with a raft of federal executions — his administration executed 13 people between July 2020 and January 2021. Trump's administration also amended the federal execution protocols before he left office, charting a path for the government to use poison gas and firing squads in future executions.

Trump isn't the only GOP figure who's expressed interest in making it easier to execute people.

In February, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tabled a change to Florida's law that would eliminate the need for a jury to agree unanimously before someone can be sentenced to death. DeSantis' move came after a jury could not agree unanimously on whether the Parkland shooter should be sentenced to death. The shooter was given a life sentence for killing 17 people at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018.

"We're going to reform the capital sentencing procedure in Florida," DeSantis said at a press conference in Florida on Tuesday — the fifth anniversary of the Parkland shooting. "You kill 17 people – what other penalty can you get other than the ultimate penalty?"

February 15, 2:00 a.m.: This story has been updated with comment from Trump's spokesperson.

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