Daniel Wolfram
At first Trump was elated by the idea of the broadcast, but after learning a fact about the murderer he is now getting cold feet.
It made headlines worldwide when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military would livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood murderer Nidal Hasan.
When Donald Trump was first asked, he thought it was a great idea and “absolutely” approved it, but now he and his inner circle are having second thoughts about broadcasting the execution.
The reason is simple. Sources told CNN that hesitation took hold after the president learned a key detail about the condemned man.
Cold feet on the broadcast
Hasan has been paralyzed from the waist down since police shot him during the 2009 mass shooting at the Texas base.
He now uses a wheelchair. Putting that visual on live television suddenly felt far less appealing to the commander in chief. If there is one thing Trump understands, it is the power of cameras.
Behind the scenes, advisers warned him that a televised firing squad could easily backfire by handing foreign adversaries fresh propaganda to paint Hasan as a martyr. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also expressed those same feelings.
Trump weighing his options
When Hegseth announced the televised event on social media last week, it caught Trump completely off guard, according to sources who spoke with CNN.
Lawmakers on both sides quickly panned the plan. Even so, Trump still stands firmly behind the death sentence itself for Hasan, who murdered 13 people and wounded dozens more in an effort to protect the Taliban.
“He was vicious. He was violent,” Trump told reporters about Hasan over the weekend. “There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it. Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So, I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.”
Pentagon leaders are already rethinking the broadcast. One option on the table is to pull the live video feed moments before the rifles fire. The execution remains scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood. If it goes ahead, it will be the military’s first execution since World War II.
