Vance says he wouldn't watch livestream of Fort Hood shooter's execution

Washington — Vice President JD Vance on Friday cast doubt on whether the Pentagon will go ahead with livestreaming the execution of the Fort Hood shooter in December and said he would not tune in if it happens.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that Nidal Hasan's death by firing squad would be public and available to watch. The announcement prompted intense backlash, including from several Republicans in Congress. 

On a trip to Ohio, a reporter asked Vance, who is Catholic, how the plan to livestream the execution meshes with his faith. 

"Well, first of all, I've seen this announcement," said Vance. "I don't know that that's actually going to happen."

Vance said Hasan committed "the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11" and gunned down Army soldiers he was supposed to treat "at their most vulnerable." Hasan, a psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others in the attack on the Fort Hood Army base in Texas in 2009.

"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," Vance said. "Now that said, I mean, look, if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it."

President Trump hasn't publicly commented on the livestream aspect of the execution, although he approves of it being carried out through a firing squad. 

"Death penalty through firing squad, and he deserves it," the president told a room full of guests at a White House event marking Columbus Day.