Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said he would 'defer' to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on the decision to broadcast the execution of the Fort Hood shooter on public airwaves.
"Ultimately we're going to defer to Secretary Hegseth and his decision on how to move forward with this," Carr said in an Oct. 9 appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street when asked if he would allow the proposed livestreamed execution on broadcast.
Hegseth said earlier this week that the public will be able to watch a livestream the firing squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted in 2009 of killing 13 people and injuring 31 others in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.
Backlash came after Hegseth's announcement,
with Democratic lawmakers comparing it to public executions by terrorists. Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who sits on the Senate Committee for the Armed Services, posted on X calling for the removal of Hegseth from his cabinet position.
"There is no doubt that Nidal Hasan is a murderer who took the lives of 13 people and injured dozens," Kelly wrote Oct. 9. "He should face justice for that. But a public execution? Here in the United States? It’s the kind of thing Iran and the Taliban do."
Carr, whose FCC regulates broadcast and internet communications, told CNBC that his "understanding is it's not on broadcast TV, so I don't think there's a role for the FCC there one way or the other," but said that he trusts Hegseth to make decisions "that are relevant to the Department of War."
"I think he's doing a great job, and I trust that he's making the right call on these issues." Carr said.
Trump hasn't weighed in, but Vance wouldn't watch
Only a few days earlier, President Donald Trump approved the firing squad execution of Hasan, and on the same day as Carr's comments, Trump publicly supported the execution, saying Hasan "deserves it." Trump did not weigh in on Hegseth's plan to livestream it.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters Oct. 9 that he would not be watching the possible livestream but called Hasan's actions "the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11."
"I don't know that that's actually going to happen," Vance said of the livestream. "Let's sort of see what I think it's going to happen in December when when he's executed."
Contributing: Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FCC chair doesn't rule out broadcasting execution of Fort Hood shooter
