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Small update, but trump just tweeted that the execution livestream has been cancelled: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117445309638266855
I guess it wasn't something they were really committed to, and they just threw out the idea in a tweet to test the waters, and took it back after it didn't go so hot. Either that or the logistics of doing the livestream and even coming up with a location to do it is pretty difficult. Since there are no existing areas to do the act, idk if it will be in a hastily constructed facility or they'll just strap in in the downrange area of an existing shooting range.
Jonathon Moran got it right already https://x.com/JVanMaren/status/2108586303444943246?s=20
They're in the overly online psychopath echo chambers so deep they don't even realize that a large number of conservatives and conservative leaning voters are not aligned with the most extreme and cruel ends. Americans are fine with the death penalty overall, but Hegseth just couldn't help himself and needed to go further past where the public is at. Americans want punishment, but they don't want blood entertainment.
It doesn't matter what the execution is: critics will always make this complaint. It is impossible to meet the approval of critics who a priori will never give you any. "I would have supported letting you execute terrorists, something I don't support, but you had to do it in a way that alienated me, so, alas, I am forced to recant my support."
I hear for example that Trump could have done more deportations if he'd just been nicer about it. There are reporters at major newspapers whose job is to sit in immigration court all day waiting for examples of mean deportation. Deportation was never going to be nice. You could have the nicest deportation in the world and they would find something mean about it.
Heckler's veto is never made in good faith. They don't want to "gotta hand it to you". They just want an excuse to shut it down. They will always make one.
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Lucky Palmer had a good point that state use of its ultimate monopoly on violence should be televised so citizens see the full extent of state power. I don’t think most normies read enough to see this argument and the initial take is it’s bad.
It’s a lot like Ned Stark’s the man who passes the judgement should swing the sword type argument which basically every viewer of GOT found compelling. Also kind of Aztec bloodthirsty but I think both frames work.
I agree with this take, I think federal executions should be halftime at Redskins-Cowboys every year. But, the guy in the wheelchair seeking to make a martyr of himself in an incident most people vaguely remember if at all, probably not the place to start.
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yup https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/15/8-10-americans-oppose-live-streaming-execution-fort-hood-shooter-poll-shows/
this was not some change of heart or a legal obstacle: it simply polled poorly and would be unfavorable among independents. had it polled better i am sure trump would have signed off on it.
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It kinda reads like this was a Pete Hegseth thing which Trump signed onto and then dropped like a rock? Like my mental model of Trump is that he's pretty normie and has policy preferences like your drunk uncle in a diner. He wants the illegals out and doesn't really think about legal immigration. He wants things made in the USA and thinks we have to take out Iran. Etc, etc. Not 'bring back public executions'.
Agreed, but I think it's interesting that he's open to but not committed to things like public executions.
Most normie drunk uncles are probably squishy rather than opposed, and consider that Trump likely doesn’t have a terribly good grasp of what ‘livestream’ means- to him it means it’ll be on TV, which normie drunk uncle thinks is, well, the criminal justice system should be transparent and if you don’t want to watch it you can just change the channel.
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