Trump says he'll seek the death penalty for 'rapists, murderers, and monsters'

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will direct his Justice Department to "vigorously pursue" the death penalty to protect Americans from "violent rapists, murderers, and monsters" when he takes power on Jan. 20.

Trump's statement on his social media platform Truth Social was in response to President Joe Biden's announcement on Monday that he had commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row, converting them to life in prison without parole.

"As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters," Trump said.

Trump restarted federal executions during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021 after a nearly 20-year pause.

He also hit out at Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of almost every American federal prisoner on death row.

President Biden, in his final month in office, announced Monday he was converting the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal inmates awaiting execution to life without the possibility of parole.

They included nine people convicted of murdering fellow prisoners, four for murders committed 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!"

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.