Mike Johnson urges Trump to rethink livestreaming Nidal Hasan execution: I wouldnt be watching

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged President Trump Monday to reverse his decision to livestream the planned execution of Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad — adding that many of his fellow Republicans are similarly squeamish about the idea.“The concern would be that you would create a video that then would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists,” Johnson (R-La.) told CBS News.“We’ve got to think through the policy implications of all that.

I wouldn’t be watching it if it was aired, but there’s a lot of opinions on that.”“I think there’s still some time to talk about that,” the speaker added.“I need to tell the White House what some of my colleagues think about that, and not everybody’s in favor of the idea.”Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced plans last week to make the execution of Hasan available to the public, drawing bipartisan backlash.“It’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad.

It hadn’t been since World War II, since we’ve done that,” Hegseth told conservative influencer Jack Posobiec.“I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was ‘win.'”But Vice President JD Vance told reporters that if Hasan’s execution was livestreamed, he was “not gonna be watching it.”President Trump told reporters Friday that he “absolutely” authorized the execution of Hasan — a US Army major and psychiatrist who killed 12 of his fellow soldiers as well as a civilian on Nov.

5, 2009, at the Texas outpost, wounding 32 others — but later added that he “will make a decision ultimately” about whether to broadcast the stream.Hasan, now 56, was shot and paralyzed from the chest down during his rampage.Critics have argued that executing him would fulfill his desire for jihadist martyrdom.Multiple Republican lawmakers had come out against the idea of a public execution of Hasan before Johnson weighed in.“I absolutely support the sentence of death,...