Johnson: Video of Hasan execution could be ‘recruiting tool for future terrorists’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan could be used by terrorist groups to recruit more people, joining a growing list of Republicans who have expressed reservations about broadcasting it publicly.

“There are colleagues that have concerns,” Johnson said in an interview with CBS News. “The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists. We got to think through the policy implications of all that.”

Johnson said he would not watch the livestream if it were to air, and he added that he had not had a chance to speak with President Trump, Vice President Vance or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the matter.

“My role as the leader of the legislative branch is to share my opinion,” he said. “It’s outside of my lane, of course, but I need to tell the White House what some of my colleagues think about that, and not everybody’s in favor of the idea.”

Johnson is the latest high-ranking Republican to question Hegseth’s surprise plan to publicly broadcast the firing squad execution of Hasan, who was convicted and sentenced to death after admitting to killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

While many Republicans back the death penalty for Hasan, outrage was shared from both sides of the aisle over the plan to livestream the military’s first execution in more than six decades.

Senior lawmakers shared bipartisan condemnation over the livestream, likening it to a dishonorable public spectacle that could embolden terrorism.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) urged Hegseth to reverse course on the decision, warning that it would bring notoriety to Hasan and fulfill his wish of becoming a martyr.

“There is no need to livestream any execution, including this one,” she said on the social platform X. “I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a vocal critic of Hegseth’s leadership at the Pentagon, called the plan “ beyond disgusting ,” likening it to executions performed in U.S. adversarial countries and oppressive dictatorships.

“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting,” he wrote on X .

Hegseth announced last week that Hasan’s execution by firing squad, scheduled for Dec. 3 in Texas, would be open to the public.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said in an interview with conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice on Oct. 8.

While Trump did approve Hasan’s execution, the commander in chief said he will make the ultimate decision on whether it will be broadcast to the public.