Vice President JD Vance told reporters Friday during a visit to Cincinnati that if the firing squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is livestreamed, he won't be watching it.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that the firing squad execution of the man who carried out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009 would be livestreamed.
Speaking to reporters at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Vance said that he saw the announcements but doesn't know that the livestream will actually take place. He spoke to reporters during a trip to Ohio, where he cast an early vote and planned to hold a midterm election rally.
Vance: "I'm not going to be watching it'
Vance said, in his view, Hasan committed the worst terrorist attack in the country outside of 9/11.
“So whatever
the controversy is about the method of execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people," he said. "Now that said, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Vance, a Catholic who speaks and writes often about his faith, is at odds with his church over the death penalty.He's spoken out publicly in favor of it and has said he supports executing drug dealers. Pope Leo XI has called for an end to capital punishment in the United States, and Catholic teaching has for years described the death penalty as immoral.
(This story may update.)
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Vance says he 'won't watch' firing squad execution livestream
