Biden’s inaction on death penalty may be a top campaign issue as Trump and DeSantis laud executions

By MICHAEL TARM
AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Capital punishment could emerge as a major campaign issue in the U.S. presidential race for the first time in 30 years, with top GOP candidates already one-upping each other by touting tougher, more far-reaching death penalty laws. And death penalty foes are poised to draw attention to what Democrat Joe Biden hasn’t done as president. He’s taken no action on or even spoken about his 2020 campaign pledge to strike capital punishment from U.S. statutes. Trump established himself as the most prolific execution president since Grover Cleveland in the 1890s, overseeing 13 federal executions in his last months in office. He wasted no time making capital punishment a focus of his 2024 campaign, calling for the execution of drug dealers in his Nov. 15 speech announcing his candidacy.