In today’s edition … Democrats are putting serious money into state legislative races … We ask about a red panda … but first …
Republican rebellion finally changes Trump’s mind
Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t watch it. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was worried it could be used to recruit terrorists. A former head of the National Counterterrorism Center called it “a stain on our morality.”
And now, President Donald Trump, responding to an unusually high level of division among Republicans, has announced the Dec. 3 firing squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will not be live-streamed after all. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced plans to live-stream the execution last week.
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” said Trump in a Truth Social post yesterday. “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
Hegseth had argued that livestreaming Hasan’s death would deter other would-be criminals, and that it was important to make an example of Hasan, who killed 13 and injured 32 in a mass shooting in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
But several prominent Republicans, like Vance and Johnson, expressed discomfort with the idea, and many Republican politicians were quick to oppose the livestream.
“Justice will be served, but the United States of America does not and should not livestream executions,” Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri said in a social media post.
“An execution shouldn’t be a live-streamed spectacle. The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families, not turning an execution into entertainment,” said Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. (Pennsylvania).
“There is no need to livestream any execution, including this one. I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
The views expressed by these lawmakers reflects the sentiment among the GOP base. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll published yesterday found a majority of Republicans (64 percent) and self-identified MAGA Republicans (55 percent) think streaming the execution would be going too far.
That’s not to say Hegseth’s plan didn’t have its defenders. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin notably came out strongly supporting it, telling CBS News, “People need to understand if you attack America, we will come after you.”
The level of debate the live-stream kicked off inside the GOP was notable. Trump’s administration has faced occasional rebellion from his base, but rarely has pushback been this strong, or led to this sort of reversal.
While many Republicans called for more transparency around the federal investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, only 24 percent of Republicans and 17 percent of MAGA Republicans disapprove of how Trump handled the Epstein files, a July 2025 Post poll found, and Trump continues to dismiss the entire affair.
And, 60 percent of Republicans still approve of Trump’s handling of the war with Iran, according to a CNN poll last month. Trump has ignored calls to end the war.
Part of the opposition to the livestream was undoubtedly borne out of the bizarre novelty of it — there have been wars and investigatory scandals in recent memory, but there hasn’t been a public execution in the U.S. since 1937. And firing squad executions have become increasingly rare in the U.S. over the last few decades. The last such execution happened in March 2025 at the request of the condemned, only the fourth firing squad execution since the Supreme Court ended a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia.
“There’s a lot of implications when you administer the death penalty either publicly or privately, and when you administrate publicly you’re very quickly joining the ranks of governments like Iran and Afghanistan and that’s certainly not the company that our country wants to keep,” Nan Tolson, an anti-death-penalty conservative activist, told the Early Brief.
But there was also a great deal of concern — as Johnson expressed — that a video of Hasan, a Muslim who is a wheelchair user after being shot by authorities during his 2009 mass shooting, being executed could be used by anti-American terror groups to recruit more members.
“It would give this individual, who deserves no further notoriety, the martyrdom he seeks,” Murkowski said in a social media post.
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From across the newsroom
- Power struggle erupts in Trump’s White House as midterm losses loom, from Nancy Cook, Natalie Allison, Isaac Arnsdorf and Katherine Doyle.
- How the White House Historical Association is trying to survive Trump, from Dan Diamond.
- Meet the megadonors pouring more than $1.7 billion into the 2026 elections, from Clara Ence Morse, Leslie Shapiro, Praveena Somasundaram and Eric Lau.
- The hidden divide that makes life so much less affordable for some Americans, from Julie Z. Weil.
- Who could lead the House GOP next Congress, from Mariana Alfaro.
- Suspicious materials sent to Schumer, other members of Congress, authorities say from Mariana Alfaro, Theodoric Meyer, Olivia George and Patrick Marley.
- Secret documents reveal donors behind $330 million for Trump’s ballroom, from Jonathan O’Connell, Sarah Blaskey and Aaron Schaffer.
What I’m watching
Democrats are putting real money behind state legislative races.
Earlier in the cycle, we wrote that Democrats were growing more upbeat about gaining more power in numerous state houses this year, buoyed by a poor national environment for Republicans.
But we learned this week that the party is putting real money behind the effort.
The States Project, an organization focused on electing Democrats to state legislatures, told me yesterday that it has raised more than $100 million this cycle, a significant increase from the $70 million it raised last cycle.
That’s a big deal, because Republicans have dedicated more money and attention to state legislative races in recent years. That’s part of the reason why Democrats lost around 1,000 state legislative seats during President Barack Obama’s eight years in office, forcing the party to rebuild from a notable low point after the 2016 election.
Democrats aren’t ready to declare victory yet. But there’s a growing sense that the party could take a major step toward reversing the ground lost under Obama.
Some operatives argue the party will be competitive in races for at least 500 state legislative seats, with a real shot at winning most of them. That could mean building unified power in states like Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and preventing Republican supermajorities in states like Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to build state legislative power after decades of rightwing dominance,” Mandara Meyers, the head of the States Project, said in a statement.
In your local paper
Texas Tribune: James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, raised a staggering $64 million in the third quarter of this year, the largest Senate fundraising haul for this quarter ever. That puts his total raised over the last year at more than $134 million.
Times of San Diego: Balboa Park is one of my favorite parks nationwide. It’s truly a masterpiece. So I had to highlight that, for the first time in 40 years, it is getting a refresh with an updated master plan.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: State Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office accused insulin makers of a “pricing scheme” that has “artificially” inflated insulin prices by more than 1,000 percent.
From you
Many of you did not like our question yesterday.
We asked about lawmakers who swear they don’t want to run for president — only to run for president a few years later. It was spurred by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) saying again this week that he has “zero interest” in running for president.
Most of you said we need to take Ossoff at his word, even though countless other politicians have said they have no interest … before running.
“Ossoff is highly focused on his Senate reelection,” said Linda Johnson. “Reporters can be like salivating dogs on the attack to break the next story. Let the man breathe. He’ll let you know when he is ready to let you know.”
“With all due respect, I disagree with your tendentious framing of the issue. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest Sen. Ossoff is deceiving Georgia voters about his career aspirations, or anything else, for that matter,” said Steven Alan Honley.
“Respectfully, the 2028 speculation may be fun to play for some, but it’s not useful with a very consequential election around the corner,” added Sue Leonard.
But politicians are already maneuvering with their eyes on the presidency. Yes, the midterms are upon us, but 2028 hopefuls like Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom and others are campaigning for their next race right now.
A few of you said that you do question it when politicians say they don’t want higher office, though you don’t blame them for doing so.
“I honestly don’t believe candidates when they say they won’t run for president,“ said Chetan Korde, who noted that at 14 years old it’ll still be a few years before he can cast his first vote. ”Barack Obama denied he would run in 2008. … I’m not entirely sure that I would consider Ossoff’s previous statement a lie if he actually ran for president, as he might have changed his mind.”
Send a reply
Time for a fun question. The Smithsonian National Zoo’s new red panda needs a name. Keepers say she’s bold and feisty, called her the “most vocal” of a new trio, and asked the public to vote by Oct. 17 on three names: Dolly, inspired by country music legend Dolly Parton; Pyra, which means heat in Greek; and Dolpa, a region in Nepal where red pandas scamper in the wild. We think you can come up with better names. Send them here and let me and your fellow Early Brief readers know at [email protected].
Thanks for reading. You can follow me on X at @merica.
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