Catholic Vance Cornered on Hegseth’s Barbaric Execution Plan
The vice president was confronted about Pete Hegseth’s plan to stream an execution.
Vice President JD Vance tried to throw cold water on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter amid widespread outrage.
The vice president, who often touts his Catholic faith, was speaking to reporters in Ohio on Friday when he was asked about the Pentagon chief’s announcement.
The reporter specifically mentioned Vance often talking about his Christian faith and asked, “How does that mesh with the Pentagon’s announcement that they wish to livestream the firing squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter?”
“Well, first of all, I’ve seen those announcements. I don’t know that’s actually going to happen,” Vance said. “Let’s sort of see what—I think it’s going to happen in December when, when he’s executed.”
Vice President JD Vance was confronted over the Pentagon plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter and how it meshed with his Christian faith as Catholic leaders condemned the move.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
The execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a mass shooting at the Texas military base in 2009, is scheduled for December 3.
“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,” Vance added. “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.”
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Vance did note, “If it’s through live stream, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Nidal Hasan is convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 31 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood.
Handout ./Bell County Sheriff's Office, Reuters
Hegseth revealed he wanted to livestream the execution during an interview with Real America’s Voice on Thursday, stating, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”
It would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961. The U.S. has not held a public execution since 1936.
While Hegseth appeared amped up by the prospect of a public execution, the announcement that it would be public has been met with widespread backlash.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public," Hegseth told Real America's Voice.
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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was among the groups to immediately condemn the move, with its president, Archbishop Paul Coakley, quoting the words of God, “do not repay anyone evil for evil” (Romans 12:17).
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan,” Coakley said in his statement. “Our God is the God of life. In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
He argued that a public execution “even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people. I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.”
Hegseth’s announcement also sparked a rare moment of bipartisan unity, with Democratic and Republican senators both slamming the proposal.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis argued in a post that Hasan should get the death penalty, but he wrote that making it public and streaming it was “Beyond disgusting.”
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America,” he posted on X.
“Seneca warned that Rome’s bloody spectacles corrupted the people who watched them. A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment,” wrote GOP Senator John Curtis.
“Secretary Hegseth’s plan to livestream the Fort Hood execution risks feeding that appetite. The victims deserve justice administered with solemnity. Broadcasting a death diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent. I urge him to reconsider,” Curtis added.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy learned about the plan to televise the execution while he was being interviewed live on CNN.
“That’s disgusting. What, is he mimicking ISIS executions?” the Connecticut senator responded. “I understand that in this country we have the death penalty, but public executions are medieval. It’s frankly one of the things that we abhor about terrorist groups.”
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