A handful of Republicans in Congress joined Democrats on Friday in criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of the man responsible for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, comparing it to the tactics of terrorist organizations, authoritarian governments and fallen empires.
”I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do,” Representative Austin Scott, Republican of Georgia, wrote on social media on Friday morning. “America is better than that.”
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican who is retiring and increasingly critical of President Trump and his administration, said the decision was “beyond disgusting.” He likened it to the actions of some of the United States’ most brutal adversaries.
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America,” he wrote in a social media post.
The criticism came after an announcement by the Pentagon that it would broadcast the execution of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. The execution is to be carried out on Dec. 3 by the military’s first firing squad since World War II, and would be its first execution by any method since 1961.
The decision came at a particularly fraught moment for congressional Republicans, who are fighting to preserve their narrow majorities in both chambers just weeks before the midterm elections. Already burdened by voter discontent over the war with Iran and a string of controversies involving Mr. Hegseth, G.O.P. lawmakers have been struggling to distance themselves from his bellicose stance.
Instead, the idea of a livestreamed military execution thrust some of them into another politically uncomfortable debate.
“An execution shouldn’t be a live-streamed spectacle,” Representative Rob Bresnahan Jr., Republican of Pennsylvania and one of his party’s most endangered incumbents, wrote in a social media post. “The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families, not turning an execution into entertainment. Their pain deserves respect, not a public show.”
Senator John Curtis, Republican of Utah, invoked the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca to warn that turning executions into public events risked corrupting society.
“A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment,” he wrote, adding that broadcasting Mr. Hasan’s death “diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent.”
Even Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on the idea, telling reporters on Friday that he was unsure the plan to broadcast the execution was “actually going to happen.” While he emphasized the brutality of Mr. Hasan’s attack, he added that if his execution were ultimately shown “through livestream, I’m not going to be watching.”
Mr. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013. Mr. Trump approved his execution this week, clearing the way for the military to carry out the sentence later this year.
Mr. Hegseth, who recommended the firing squad, said the public should be able to witness the execution of Mr. Hasan to understand the consequences of attacking American service members.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Mr. Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice, a conservative outlet, aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on Thursday. He said he was advocating for the public execution “because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
Democrats roundly condemned the move. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, accused Mr. Hegseth of staging a publicity stunt that would give Mr. Hasan the type of martyrdom he sought.
“Livestreaming an execution is a barbaric spectacle,” Mr. Reed said in a statement. “This is a gift to anti-American terrorist recruiters.”
Still, the announcement drew praise from some of the president’s most vocal allies in Congress, including those in the most politically safe Republican territory.
“This is how every Muslim terrorist should be dealt with. We will share the stream live,” Representative Randy Fine, who represents a solidly Republican district in Florida, wrote in a social media post, adding: “Fire away!”
Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who is not standing for re-election after losing his primary in August, shared the interview in which Mr. Hegseth made his announcement and called it “excellent.”
“Public execution is what this terrorist deserves,” he wrote. “We will be watching.”
Democrats raised both philosophical and legal objections.
Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said the decision was “disturbing and makes a mockery of our legal system.”
“There is a reason why we treat the meting out of justice with the seriousness it demands,” he said in a statement. “We are a democratic country and should take the rule of law seriously, not turn it into a spectacle.”
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