Trump administration officials rely on live stream the execution of the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, sources familiar with the discussions said. Last week, the Pentagon said the public would be able to watch the execution live.
President Trump had not yet made a final decision as of Tuesday, two of the sources told CBS News.
Spokespeople for the White House and Pentagon had no immediate comment.
There was pressure from Congress and elsewhere to not have the execution of Nidal Hasan broadcast live by firing squadwhich should take place on December 3.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice last Thursday that the Pentagon plans to make the execution public.
“He’s going to be shot, as he should be,” Hegseth said. “We will make sure that people can watch it, that it is public – because people need to understand that these kinds of things have serious consequences.”
CNN reported earlier Tuesday that Mr. Trump and his advisers were debating whether to livestream the firing squad execution, and that Mr. Trump had privately remarked that he did not initially know that Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down.
Several senior Republicans have expressed opposition to live-streaming Hasan’s execution in recent days, and Vice President JD Vance said that if the execution were live-streamed, “I won’t watch it.”
As the president left for a campaign rally in Alaska on Tuesday, a reporter asked him whether he was committed to allowing the execution to be broadcast live. “We’re looking at it,” Mr. Trump responded.
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson also acknowledged colleagues “who have concerns” in an interview with CBS News national correspondent and chief Washington analyst Robert Costa. Among them, he added, “the concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruitment tool for future terrorists.” Johnson also said he would not attend the execution and told Costa: “I have to tell the White House what some of my colleagues think about it, and not everyone is in favor of that idea.”
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