Specifically, the comments from the two Republicans were aimed at pushers of fentanyl, an especially cheap and lethal synthetic opioid that has been linked to a rising number of overdoses. A Tuesday news conference at the attorney general's Little Rock offices highlighted a bill Cotton has proposed to increase the federal minimum sentences for possession of fentanyl.
Asked if he supported the president's idea to use the highest form of punishment on drug dealers, Cotton was unequivocal.
"I support the death penalty for people who are dealing in fentanyl," Cotton said. "They're imposing a death sentence on the young men and women in our societies."
