The intention to livestream a jihadist’s long-overdue reward by execution found President Donald Trump weighing in on the “example” to be set.
Earlier in the week, 17 years after 14 lives were taken at Fort Hood — including an unborn baby — it was announced that justice would be doled out for Nidal Hasan by firing squad. Asked about plans to livestream the potential penultimate punishment for the then-U.S. Army major and psychiatrist who went on a murderous rampage in the name of Islam, the commander-in-chief expressed that he “absolutely” approved of the execution.
Outside the White House on his way to Syracuse, New York on Friday, multiple reporters asked the president about the livestream announcement from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“Did you personally authorize or approve the execution, the livestream execution of the Fort Hood shooter?” came one question as Trump emphatically replied, “Did I approve? Absolutely I did.”
Reporter: “Did you personally approve the livestream execution of the Fort Hood shooter?”
Trump: “Did I approve? Absolutely I did.” https://t.co/5Q1GmJ4uxI
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 9, 2026
Additionally, the president was asked about the potential for the intended livestream to be used as propaganda, to which he replied, “Well, they’re making a determination about that. But he will be killed — he will be — through firing squad. He killed 13, 14 people, badly wounded 20-some-odd people, and he’s totally nuts. So, I really don’t care how he goes as long as he goes.”
“I think that the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him,” added Trump just days after it was reported that the Sharia-loving convicted killer who also “wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,'” as Hegseth put it, was to face the business end of a row of firearms.
.@POTUS: “He will be killed through firing squad. He killed 13, 14 people, badly wounded 20-some odd people, and he’s totally nuts — so I really don’t care how he goes as long as he goes. I think that the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.” https://t.co/E2OU1VDIQY
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 9, 2026
Questions about his position continued later in the day when the leader of the Republican Party arrived in Upstate New York to support gubernatorial nominee Nassau County Executive Bruce Blackman.
It was there that, while speaking with CNY Central’s Matt Mulcahy, Trump was asked about livestream plans, to which he responded, “They want to do that because they want to set an example. I wasn’t involved in that decision, but I understand the decision. He went in and killed 14 people; he badly, badly wounded 22 people — walked into a room, just started firing at everybody, screaming things that he shouldn’t be screaming.”
“I guess they want to have it serve as an example, and I understand that very well,” added the president.
.@POTUS on live-streaming the execution of the Fort Hood jihadist terrorist: “They want to do that because they want to set an example. I wasn’t involved in that decision, but I understand the decision. He went in and killed 14 people; he badly, badly wounded 22 people — walked into a room, just started firing at everybody, screaming things that he shouldn’t be screaming. I guess they want to have it serve as an example, and I understand that very well.”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 10, 2026
Debate has continued to rage online about the execution itself and whether or not it should be a public event, especially among Christians. While some cite Biblical support for meting out justice, others like the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have referred to updated stances on the death penalty to oppose a so-called “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”
Under the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II, CCC paragraph 2267 reads, “Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”
While it went on in favor of “non-lethal means … more in conformity to the dignity of the human person,” the updated version under Pope Francis focuses more heavily on that point, arguing, “the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.”
It goes on to state, in part because of “more effective systems of detention,” that “in light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person’ … and [the Church] works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”
To that end, USCCP president Archbishop Paul S. Coakley stated in part while others adamantly disagreed, “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. Our God is the God of life. In no way can [Hasan’s] actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
“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 Hassan. 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…
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) October 9, 2026
@seanmdav Worth noting also that those executions, as well as the execution of McKinley’s assassin, were carried out within mere months of the assassinations. That arguably creates far more of a deterrent effect than waiting decades.
— Alex Hessell (@fishguardian1) October 9, 2026
To the people telling me capital punishment is not a deterrent, here is what God says:
“Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.” -Deut. 21:21.
So if it’s not a deterrent, it’s because we don’t carry it out swiftly, publicly, or consistently enough. Start doing that, it will be a deterrent.
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) October 10, 2026
There is no Biblical argument fundamentally against the death penalty. There never has been. There never will be. Because there isn’t one.
If you want to make a practical argument that entrusting such power to godless governments at given times in history is a bad idea since they will likely abuse it against godly people, that’s worthy of consideration.
But the premise still stands. There is no fundamental Biblical argument against it. The one time in Scripture God specifically established a specific nation state based on His character, He implemented it.
Being nicer than God is every bit a sin as being meaner. Both violate His Word and are disobedience. Taking God to charm school is just the other side of the coin of Talarico types putting Him through a struggle session.
God specifically reveals His character in His Word, and He doesn’t require an editor on consultant for modern audiences.
This has been my Ted Talk.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) October 9, 2026
I don’t want to make a martyr of the Fort Hood terrorist. @POTUS @SecWar if you really want to deter future Islamist terrorists, use fear and shame in their executions. All-female firing squads with bullets dipped in bacon fat.
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) October 9, 2026
It’s beyond OK—It’s an overdue and necessary thing that our society desperately needs right now. We watch the innocent get executed by thugs on our social feeds everyday. We watch the mass executions of innocents by Islamists constantly. We desperately need to see state-administered justice against one of these evildoers. The Bible tells us the proper role of government is to be a “terror” to evildoers. Livestreamed execution of a terrorist is righteous government doing exactly what it was designed to do.
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) October 9, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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