Karen Hunter is calling out the Trump administration’s plans to livestream the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, questioning why the government wants Americans to watch a man die and what message it hopes to send.
The former Army psychiatrist, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others during a 2009 shooting at the Texas military base, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon plans to broadcast the execution publicly.
Hunter questioned whether the broadcast would accomplish anything beyond giving Hasan the attention he reportedly desires.
“This public execution is not going to deter anyone who feels like this is something that they want to do,” Hunter said during her show. “They’re not operating with, ‘Oh, let me not mass kill because I might get executed.’ They don’t care.”
Hunter also questioned the administration’s logic for making the execution available to the public.
“What are you advertising? What are you advertising for?” Hunter asked.
Hegseth has defended the decision, arguing that Americans should see the consequences of committing such acts.
Hunter then played a clip from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where host Margaret Brennan questioned whether broadcasting Hasan’s execution could turn him into a martyr and create additional security threats.
“No one has to watch it if they don’t choose to,” Mullin responded.
Brennan continued pressing him about the potential consequences, citing concerns from Republican lawmakers that the broadcast could give extremists an audience.
“I don’t see it as an elevated risk at this point at all because of this,” Mullin said.
Hunter took issue with Mullin’s defense of the administration and his claims about restoring American values.
“Which values would that be? Brutality, genocide, terror, terroristic acts against people?” she asked. “What American values are you restoring, Markwayne Mullin?”
“I think we can be willful in not wanting to look at horrific things because it does something to dehumanize the person that’s watching,” she continued. “Is that an American value?”
Hunter made clear that her objections were not intended to excuse Hasan’s actions.
“What this man did was horrific,” she said, acknowledging the lives lost in the shooting. “I’m personally not for capital punishment, but in this case, yeah. But this public execution is something else. There’s something else. There’s another reason, and we should reject it.”
The Pulitzer Prize winner went on to draw comparisons to America’s long history of public lynchings.
“This is very American,” Hunter declared. “If I’m anti that, am I anti-American?”
Hunter closed by reiterating that Hasan should face punishment without turning his death into a public event.
“Nidal Hasan deserves all of the punishment,” she concluded. “The public execution is something he wants.”
Watch Karen Hunter break it all down in the clip below.
