The news media is framing Trump’s decision to cancel the livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution as a Washington story of pure palace intrigue — Trump versus Hegseth. This ignores the real story, one that’s extraordinary for several reasons.
First, the decision was never Hegseth’s to make; it was the president’s alone, as I reported. Second, he initially supported it, saying so to a reporter on October 9. Third and most significantly, Trump’s reversal is the result of people power, with an overwhelming majority of Americans — including his own supporters — opposed to the grotesque spectacle worthy of ancient Rome.
Yet instead of a story about ordinary Americans standing up to the most powerful leader on earth and winning, headline after headline frames it as a Washington drama, as shown below. Consciously or not, they turn what is basically a story about people power into just another Trump fuck-up.
See for yourself:
NYT: Hegseth’s Plan to Livestream Execution Drew Opposition From Many
Washington Post: Trump cancels Hegseth’s plan to live-stream Fort Hood shooter’s execution
Bloomberg: Trump rejects Hegseth’s bid to stream firing squad execution
NBC News: White House overrules Pete Hegseth again, this time on livestreaming execution
The New York Times’ report is the most striking example. It is organized around the power players it credits with getting the decision reversed. There’s a section on “The General,” Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, Fort Hood’s commander at the time. Another covers Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio (“The Archbishop”). There’s even a nod to the “dozens of retired admirals and generals and other officers” who “published an open letter opposing Mr. Hegseth’s plan to broadcast the execution” — as if anyone gives a shit about a bunch of military brass’s strongly worded letter. And if that weren’t comical enough, there’s a section on “Congress,” the living embodiment of a strongly worded letter that is the quintessential return to sender.
What the Times story never mentions is that Americans are united in their hatred of the idea, as new polling makes clear. They are the real protagonist of this story — not Trump, Hegseth, the military brass, or any other big shots.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Thursday morning — hours before Trump announced the reversal, according to ABC — found 80 percent of Americans oppose livestreaming Hasan’s execution. Just 18 percent support it. Ninety-one percent of Democrats oppose the livestream, along with 83 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans. Even MAGA Republicans are against it, by a 55 percent majority. So are 65 percent of Trump’s 2024 voters.
A separate YouGov poll asked about broadcasting executions in general. About 7 in 10 Americans opposed it, including Republicans by 52 to 31.
It’s not squeamishness about the death penalty. Fifty-three percent of Americans want Hasan executed by firing squad. But 69 percent of those people still didn’t want it broadcast. The public clearly draws a clear line between punishment and spectacle.
The Trump-versus-Hegseth framing also ignores that Trump was on board until the whole country turned on him. Asked on October 9 whether he’d approved the livestream, he said: “Did I approve? Absolutely.” The next day he argued for it himself: “By showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did.”
Far from reining in a rogue defense secretary, this is a story of a president abandoning a position he personally endorsed just days ago.
Trump all but admits it. His Truth Social post announcing his reversal never mentions Hegseth. He doesn’t mention Congress, the brass or the archbishop either. The only people he acknowledges are the public: “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die.”
The White House would clearly prefer another explanation. An official told NBC News that Trump hadn’t known Hasan was paralyzed, and that this factored into the decision. Hasan has used a wheelchair since he was shot during his capture in 2009. That detail has appeared in coverage of the case all week.
Crediting generals, bishops and senators lets Washington credit Washington, the perpetual source base of reporting. The 80 percent of Americans who agreed on something get no section in the Times. And the Washington Post, which co-sponsored the poll, still put Hegseth in its headline.
Philip K. Dick put it best in a 1978 speech, describing a decency in everyday people that never makes headlines but holds firm nonetheless:
“The authentic human being is one of us who instinctively knows what he should not do, and, in addition, will balk at doing it. He will refuse to do it, even if this brings down dread consequences to him and to those whom he loves. This, to me, is the ultimately heroic trait of ordinary people. They say ‘no’ to the tyrant and they calmly take the consequences of this resistance. Their deeds may be small, and almost always unnoticed, unmarked by history. Their names are not remembered, nor did these authentic humans expect their names to be remembered. I see their authenticity in an odd way: not in their willingness to perform great heroic deeds but in their quiet refusals.”
— Edited by William M. Arkin
That’s a great quote.
We are just sources of revenue.