fcc brendan carr public executions

Criticizing the president and his political party on a comedy show might be a bridge too far for the FCC. Airing a live-streamed snuff cast, on the other hand, might be on the table.

By Matt Schimkowitz | October 9, 2026 | 2:11pm

Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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FCC chair Brendan Carr has made himself something of a celebrity in his pursuit of censoring late-night comedy, a genre the American public is consistently told no longer matters. Nevertheless, he’s thrown his weight around to attempt to censor Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and their like-minded daytime comrade Joy Behar. Whenever they offer mild criticisms of the most powerful thin-skinned man on Earth or invite a political candidate on air, it becomes a matter of grave concern to Carr, whose thoughts are always with the public interest. To that end, while jokes about the craven politics of MAGA might be off the table, Carr isn’t so sure about the upcoming execution of Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan on December 3. On whether Carr would allow Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s desired livestream of the man’s firing-squad execution to simulcast on broadcast television, Carr said, “Ultimately we’re going to defer to Secretary Hegseth and his decisions on how to move forward with this.” We suppose it is in the public’s best interest to get used to the sight of people being gunned down on the internet, if they aren’t already.

Hegseth is quite excited by the idea of a public execution and announced that Hasan’s death by firing squad will be streamed at 1 p.m. on December 3. Because the livestream isn’t on broadcast television, it does not necessarily fall under Carr’s jurisdiction. But Deadline notes that broadcasters could pick up the Pentagon’s feed, and the FCC’s indecency and profanity guidelines don’t mention government-sanctioned snuff streams. Carr tells CNBC, “I trust Secretary Hegseth. I mean, he’s implementing the laws and regulations that are relevant to the Department of War, and I think he’s doing a great job, and I trust that he’s making the right call on these issues.”

As America continues to bungle private executions, Hegseth envisions a return to the public ones we haven’t seen since World War II. Hegseth told the MAGA-forward news network Real America’s Voice that he likes “the mentality that we had in World War II.” No, not the anti-Nazi part, the encouraging people to watch someone die part. “We will make sure that people are able to watch it, that it is public, because people need to understand there are serious consequences for these types of things.” Maybe there should be a total and complete shutdown of the death penalty until we figure out what the hell is going on, and then after we figure it out.

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