Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sparked backlash Sunday with his “America’s values” defense of the proposed livestream of the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.
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During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan pressed Mullin on the potential national security risk that could be created by broadcasting the execution.
“Hasan’s in a wheelchair. Doesn’t the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr to his cause?” Brennan asked Mullin, adding: “Couldn’t this be a risk to the homeland?”
@margbrennan: “Doesn’t the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr to his cause? Couldn’t this be a risk to the homeland?”
DHS Secretary Mullin: “First of all, no one has to watch it —”@margbrennan: “Well then, why are you livestreaming it?”
DHS… pic.twitter.com/9ET9jo6m2q
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 11, 2026
Mullin dodged the question, and Brennan’s subsequent pressing, instead saying, “No one has to watch it if they don’t choose to.”
President Donald Trump has said he approves of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement of the planned livestream but will “ultimately” decide on whether it will be broadcast.
Mullin told Brennan, “I follow President Trump […]. He leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he’s restoring America values and bringing where America should be back in line with what we want.”
His “America values” remark quickly drew condemnation online.
“Some American value – a televised snuff film of an execution by firing squad of a horrible killer in a wheelchair. Wow. Some value…” wrote tennis legend Martina Navratilova on X.
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Others agreed:
American values include a prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. https://t.co/758r15dR6j
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) October 11, 2026
Trump restoring American values is a sick joke – What sort of person wants to watch an execution by firing squad? https://t.co/OtyNOyWZ37
— S Scheafer (@sscheaf) October 11, 2026
Values? WTF has the Republican Party come to?
— Robert J Ellingsworth 🆓 (@BY1959) October 11, 2026
Mullin suggests a live-streamed execution will “restore American values.”
The last public execution in the United States was in 1936, at a time when Jim Crow was in full force and police could jail you for some political speech.
What other 1936 values does he want “restored”? https://t.co/KEFwSAKVm4
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) October 11, 2026
Some American value- a televised snuff film of an execution by firing squad of a horrible killer in
a wheelchair. Wow. Some value… https://t.co/zXG7te4EXQ— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) October 11, 2026
The president is restoring American values…
… by live-streaming the state-sanctioned murder of a man in a wheelchair. Cool.
And fwiw, of course the dude is a terrorist and should rot in jail for the rest of his natural life. These are not oppositional beliefs. https://t.co/zzlPZGl3Qf
— 🇨🇦 Jamie Carroll 🇨🇦 (@jec79) October 11, 2026
Livestreaming executions is not an action that makes me think “American Values”.
Actions like this push us further and further away from our values and desensitizes audiences to the violence of the state. https://t.co/7EcdL6UyTm
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— Chase Oliver (@ChaseForLiberty) October 11, 2026
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