Trump, leaving Japan, attacks Biden over ‘Three Strikes’ crime law
President Trump wrapped up his trip to Japan by continuing to attack former Vice President Joe Biden for supporting the infamous 1994 “Three Strikes” crime bill that mandated life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes.
The law has come under criticism for its disproportionate impact on African-Americans and is a prime target of the criminal justice reform movement.
“Super Predator was the term associated with the 1994 Crime Bill that Sleepy Joe Biden was so heavily involved in passing,” Trump tweeted. “That was a dark period in American History, but has Sleepy Joe apologized? No!”
The president added: “Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected. In particular, African Americans will not be able to vote for you. I, on the other hand, was responsible for Criminal Justice Reform, which had tremendous support, & helped fix the bad 1994 Bill!”
As president, Trump signed into the law a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, called the First Step Act, that reduced mandatory minimum prison sentences. The president drew bipartisan praise for his support of the legislation, which passed in December.
But Trump wasn’t always a champion of reforming prison laws to help African Americans.
In 1989, after black and Latino teenagers known as the Central Park Five were accused of the brutal rape and assault of a female jogger in New York City, Trump took out full-page ads in four New York City newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty.
Their convictions were vacated in 2002 after DNA evidence and the confession of a convicted rapist and murderer exonerated them.