Vance Casts Doubt On Firing Squad Execution, Balks At Hegseth’s Live Stream Plan

Vice President JD Vance seemed less enthusiastic and more ambivalent compared to other top officials in the US administration when asked about War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the Pentagon will livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan.

A reporter asked Vance about the unusual development on Friday. Hegseth has been insistent that it will happen. Apparently having been approved by President Trump, the execution is set for December 3rd of this year.

“Well, first of all, I’ve seen these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen. Let’s sort of see what – I think it’s going to happen in December when he’s executed,” Vance began.

JD Vance distances himself from Hegseth’s televised execution: “Look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it” https://t.co/PnpmjfNTi0

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2026

Vance, who will himself likely run for president after Trump’s term, continued: “But what I try to remind people is, look, this is a guy who committed, in my view, the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11.”

“The people that he was meant to treat, the army soldiers that he was meant to treat for mental illness and other problems, he took them at their most vulnerable and gunned down these people where they live.”

But then he noted that he is unlikely to watch it: “So 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.”

Hegseth’s announcement has been controversial and received pushback not just among Democrats but Republicans as well. For example, Republican Senator Thom Tillis has argued: “Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting.”

Many on the Right have not been impressed with the whole bizarre livestream aspect…

OMG so based, public execution. Grow the fuck up

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) October 9, 2026

In 2009, former US Army Major and psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire inside a crowded Readiness Center at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian, as well as an unborn child. In the jihadist-inspired terror attack he also wounded 32 others, before being shot by military police and permanently disabled.

Hegseth had boasted to TV outlet Real America’s Voice on Wednesday that “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.“

The tiny handful of countries known for carrying out public executions over the years are Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan. The last public execution in the US happened in 1936 in Kentucky, when a convicted murder and rapist was hanged amid onlookers.