Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, on Monday, during an interview with CBS News, expressed his reservations about the possible live broadcast of the execution of Nidal Hassan, the perpetrator of an attack that targeted American soldiers.
Johnson considered that “the fear lies in preparing a video clip that will be used as a tool to recruit terrorists in the future,” and said: “We have to think about the political consequences of all this.”
He stressed that he would not watch the execution if it was broadcast live.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Nidal Hassan, a psychiatrist in the US Army, who killed 13 people by shooting at a military base in 2009, would be executed by firing squad, and that the execution would be broadcast live over the Internet, which sparked dissatisfaction among the ranks of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
During the interview broadcast by CBS News on Monday, Johnson stressed that this idea is not supported by all of his colleagues in the House of Representatives.
However, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the decision regarding this broadcast has not yet been decided.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump tried to boost Senator Jon Husted's re-election campaign by attacking two groups of African immigrants during an election rally in Ohio, where an organization with ties to Republicans began promoting a socialist candidate instead of Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, according to what was reported by the Associated Press.
Trump also paid tribute to Representative Max Miller, the Republican congressman who refused to withdraw from the re-election race despite being accused of domestic violence, pointing to him among the attendees.
“Thank you, Max, for coming,” Trump said. Thank you. very good".
But Trump focused on an issue he pays great attention to, which is immigration. He has repeatedly targeted the large Somali community in Minnesota, linking them on Monday evening to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
During a presidential debate two years ago, Trump falsely accused Haitians of eating pets. Referring to these accusations on Monday evening, Trump said: “I was right,” and boasted that his administration’s policies were pushing Haitians to leave the country.
“If you want to stop Ohio from being looted, pillaged, and destroyed like Minnesota is being destroyed, we will stop it,” Trump said. “And just like we did in Springfield, we will stop it, we will not let it happen.”
Trump's statements came on the same day that Department of Homeland Security agents searched the Washington home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant who represents a Minnesota district in the House of Representatives.
The Ministry of Justice announced in a statement that members of the Homeland Security Investigations Department executed a search warrant obtained by the Ministry pursuant to a judicial warrant in the Washington area, without providing any additional details.
On Sunday, US Federal Judge Jennifer Rochon in New York ordered President Donald Trump to cancel all remaining television ads funded by millions of taxpayer dollars. To promote its political and electoral messages.
Manhattan U.S. District Judge Rochon wrote in her two-week temporary order that the administration must “cancel or (cause to be canceled)” any ads from broadcast or syndication, including those scheduled to air Sunday night.
Its decision came after the Department of Homeland Security stated, in a filing submitted to the court on Saturday, that the advertisements “will not continue” after Sunday, and that it has no plans to purchase additional advertising space after that date.
President Trump announced that campaign funds would be used to pay for advertising in the future.
The injunction prohibits the department from “using, disbursing, or transferring funds” allocated to the Department of Homeland Security to “develop, create, publish, broadcast, distribute, or display” advertising.
The ads, which aired in late September, began airing an ad similar to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign ads, and another in which he and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appear promoting war on Iran.
These ads glorify Trump and reflect his political rhetoric ahead of the midterm congressional elections on November 3. One shows a clip of Trump talking about the danger of communism, while another rebroadcasts an ad from his previous presidential campaign. The fifth ad in the campaign began airing last Tuesday, and it focuses on the Trump administration's arrest of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
These ads were funded by $20 million that the Office of Management and Budget added to a line item in the Department of Homeland Security budget designated for “commemorative activities,” according to what the Washington Post previously reported. Congress approved this spending for “memorials to service martyrs, department or agency anniversaries, and honors ceremonies,” according to a House Budget Committee report.
Judge Rochon upheld a coalition that included the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause, which challenged the ads as violating a federal law that prohibits agencies from using taxpayer dollars for unauthorized “advertising and promotion.”
“The defendants may not sign, renew, or expand any agreement authorizing the development, creation, publication, placement, or broadcast of the challenged advertisements” during the two-week period of her order, Rochon wrote, after suggesting that the plaintiffs “will succeed in their lawsuit” and that they “will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”
Trump did not comment on the injunction, but after angry reactions from Democrats and some Republicans, he stated on October 5 that his political committee would cover the costs of future advertising.
The "Democracy Forward" legal charity organization expressed its "satisfaction with the speed of the court's response," saying: "We are pleased that the court moved quickly to prevent further use of taxpayer funds for such blatantly illegal political propaganda." There is no legal justification—nor precedent—for a president to use state agencies and funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes; To influence the election results to serve his personal agenda.
Last week, the Democratic National Committee filed a separate lawsuit over the ads, claiming they violate campaign spending rules and make it difficult for the group's candidates to compete.
The use of public funds has also drawn criticism from even some members of the Republican Party. Senate Republican Majority Leader, Senator John Thune, said that ads “should not be funded by taxpayers.”
