REUTERS
President Donald Trump publicly praised countries that execute drug dealers during a campaign rally for an Republican candidate for the House of Representatives on Saturday evening, telling the crowd that “I think it’s a discussion we have to start thinking about.” Citing Singapore as an example nation where drug offenses can result in capital punishment, Trump summed up the policies as: “We catch a drug dealer, death penalty. That’s it.” The president had reportedly been privately pushing for the study of such a position in recent weeks, although his appearance on behalf of Republican candidate Rick Saccone in Moon Township, Pennsylvania was the first public statement of support for such a policy. “I don’t know if that’s popular,” Trump said, “but these people are killing our kids and they’re killing our families, and we have to do something.” Trump had previously praised the actions of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines for his crackdown on alleged drug dealers, which has led to the extrajudicial killings of thousands of Philippine citizens.