“Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers,” Trump tweeted. | AP Photo/ Evan Vucci White House Trump 'not thrilled' about California governor's death penalty moratorium

President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to issue a moratorium on executions in the state.

“Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers,” Trump tweeted. “Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!”


The president’s opposition followed reports Tuesday that Newsom would sign an executive order to put a hold on California’s lethal injection protocol, issuing a reprieve to the hundreds of prisoners housed on California death row, the largest in the nation.

The governor, a Democrat, argued the death penalty discriminates against racial minorities and the poor, and his office added Tuesday that it cost the state more than $5 billion to administer since 1978 with no evidence of bolstering public safety.

“I do not believe that a civilized society can claim to be a leader in the world as long as its government continues to sanction the premeditated and discriminatory execution of its people,’’ Newsom said in a statement Tuesday. “In short, the death penalty is inconsistent with our bedrock values and strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a Californian.”

California has not executed a prisoner since 2006, but residents of the state have rejected ballot measures to abolish capital punishment twice in the last six years.

Newsom — who publicly backed the 2016 attempt to abolish the state’s death penalty while serving as lieutenant governor — took office in January. He has clashed with Trump on Twitter before over California’s high-speed rail project.