r/inthenews • u/theatlantic The Atlantic • 1d ago

article How Pete Hegseth’s Plan for a Reality-TV Execution Imploded

https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/10/pete-hegseth-livestreamed-execution-plan/689020/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo
58 Upvotes

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u/flare_force 1d ago

The article got this bit wrong IMHO: “Even a president who’d brought a bloody mixed-martial-arts fight to the White House lawn apparently didn’t relish the thought of an afternoon spent watching Army soldiers shoot bullets into a paraplegic.”

I don’t think Trump was against the idea TBH. I think the amount of pushback he received from a vast array of sources moved the needle for him.

He’s not unaware that his popularity is falling precipitously with self described“independent” voters and he didn’t want to alienate them further with this.

Plus I think some insiders rightly appealed on the grounds that this could make conflicts in the Middle East worse for Trump, by radicalizing people against the US.

Overall I think it was a calculated move by the administration. If the situation was different, I would say they would go right ahead with it because this administration doesn’t give a shit about human rights, decency, or the rule of law.

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u/RandomBoomer 1d ago

The strong pushback probably had some effect, but I guarantee you that Hasan being a paraplegic was the core issue for him. It's not photogenic. Trump has an aversion to people with disabilities, so his desire for a theatrical spectacle was ruined by the target being unaesthetic.

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u/flare_force 1d ago

Yes this is a great point. I absolutely failed to consider how utterly shallow and obsessed with appearance Trump is. Thank you for mentioning it!

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u/Andrew_Waples 1d ago

There still going to do the firing squad though, right?

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u/restore_democracy 1d ago

One might say they were shot down.

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u/NemusSoul 1d ago

So one episode of the series didn’t get approved. They’ve already moved on to the episode where the United States and Russia get married.

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u/MonsieurReynard 1d ago

Squad own goals

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u/Dont_Touch_Me_There9 22h ago

He's such a bum

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u/ThatSenorita 1d ago

Sick fuck