Van Jones: Trump’s Death Penalty for Drug Dealers Is ‘Divisive,’ ‘Stupid,’ ‘Complete Nonstarter’

Monday on CNN’s “Newsroom,” former Obama administration green jobs czar and network host Van Jones said President Donald Trump’s proposal to use the death penalty for drug dealers was ”a complete non-starter and it’s divisive and it’s stupid.”

Jones said, “I met with sheriffs, I met with pastors, nobody is saying what we really need is the death penalty for drug dealers, what we really need is tougher sentences. I don’t know where he’s getting that stuff. That is — that is 180 degrees from what the people on the ground are saying. They’re saying people need more help, more compassion, more education. Sometimes they say they need more — better Bible studies. That would be higher on the list than the death penalty for drug dealers. And that’s the kind of stuff that becomes a poison pill for people who are on the ground and know what’s going on and people who understand the drug war is a failure and it’s going to stop us from working together. If he would take that crap out and focus on what the people on the front lines, they need more beds, they need more help, they need more hope, they need more jobs. Like I said, they need more Bible study. All that’s on the list. This death penalty thing is a complete non-starter and it’s divisive and it’s stupid. I think it’s an offense to the people who are really trying to solve this problem.”

He continued, “When you have ideas and he’s bragging on these countries that are killing people, like the people in the Philippines who are just shooting people in the streets, he thinks that’s a good way for America. Nobody is expecting for that to work. The other thing too is when you look at how the death penalty gets applied, the super enhanced penalties get applied, they don’t get applied to the big drug kingpins that got a gazillion lawyers, they get applied to little people who got caught up and it’s just not the way to go. I applaud the positive parts but take the nonsense out.”

(h/t Grabien)

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN