DeSantis Copies Trump — Vows to Kill Drug Dealers At Border: ‘Stone Cold Dead’

Republican Presidential hopeful Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared to mimic former President Donald Trump‘s policy pitch on killing drug dealers at the U.S. border.

DeSantis on Wednesday laid out his new border security plan to Fox News host Martha MacCallum, claiming that drug dealers attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border would end up “stone cold dead” under his administration.

The new policy appears to mimic Trump’s prior statements made at the beginning of his 2024 presidential campaign last year. In November 2022, the 45th president voiced support for imposing the death penalty for convicted drug dealers and human traffickers.

Meanwhile, the Florida governor took a similar tone, adding that “all options are on the table to defend the American people.”

“People are dying by the tens of thousands because of the fentanyl that’s trafficked in,” DeSantis told MacCallum. “We’re going to obviously build the wall and do that. But what I’ve seen in my trips down there and I’ve taken a number of them, the cartels will actually cut through the good part of the border wall like a blow torch or a saw.”

He added, “My view as commander in chief would be is we have to have appropriate rules of engagement to say, ‘if you’re cutting through a border wall on sovereign US territory and you’re trying to poison Americans, you’re going to end up stone cold dead.’ We are not going to put up with this right now. The drug cartels control our border. It’s open season.”

DeSantis also promised to utilize “maritime operations” to stop cartel members from shipping drugs across the ocean and threatened to punish the Mexican government if they do not cooperate.

Despite Trump’s legal troubles, DeSantis is currently polling behind him in the crowded Republican field by over 30 points, according to Real Clear Politics.

Watch above via Fox News.