Despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the execution of a convicted terrorist would be livestreamed, Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on whether the public display will happen. If it does, he says he won’t be among those watching.
“I see these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” Vance told reporters traveling with him in Ohio. “Whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people. Now that said, I mean, look, if it’s all through livestream, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Nidal Malik Hasan, an ex-U.S. Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013. Vance called the shooting the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11.
The Defense Department announced Monday that Hasan would face a firing squad. But Hegseth’s plan to stream the execution online faces a growing list of Republicans publicly opposing the idea, including a member of the House Armed Services Committee that oversees the Pentagon.
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) said on Thursday that the decision was “beyond disgusting.”
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” Tillis posted on X. “It should not be happening in America.”
That sentiment was echoed on Friday by Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia), a member of the House Armed Services committee, who posted that “livestreaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that.”
President Donald Trump approved an execution by firing squad. Trump talked about the execution during a Columbus Day event on Friday but didn’t mention it being livestreamed.
The White House referred questions about how and where the execution would be streamed to the Pentagon. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on the plan or on Vance’s comments.
Trump’s seal of approval hasn’t kept opposition to the online execution from growing within his party.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) urged Hegseth to reconsider broadcasting it, citing the Roman philosopher Seneca’s belief that “Rome’s bloody spectacles corrupted the people who watched them.”
Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pennsylvania), who’s in danger of losing his seat in November, said that Hegseth shouldn’t use an execution as entertainment.
“The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families, not turning an execution into entertainment,” Bresnahan posted on X. “Their pain deserves respect, not a public show.”
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