'Wow': Markwayne Mullin shocks with bizarre defense of Trump admin's 'American values'

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin shocked onlookers Sunday when he uncorked a bizarre defense of President Donald Trump's efforts to restore so-called "American values."

Mullin joined CBS News' Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation," where he was asked about the upcoming public execution of Nidal Hasan, a former military member who shot and killed 13 service members and injured more than 30 others during the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed last week that Hasan will be publicly executed by firing squad in December, making him the first person to be executed in such a manner since 1936. The public can view the execution on a livestream, Hegseth said.

Mullin defended the execution as part of the Trump administration's efforts to "restore American values."

"Hasan is in a wheelchair. Doesn't the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr to his cause?" Brennan asked.

Mullin's answer was stunning.

"No one has to watch it," Mullin said. "I follow President Trump. He's the Commander in Chief of this country, and he does a phenomenal job ... He's restoring American values and bringing the American public where it should be, back in line."

Mullin's comments sparked a firestorm online.

"Some American value," Martina Navratilova, a former professional tennis champion, posted on X. "A televised snuff film of an execution by firing squad of a horrible killer in a wheelchair. Wow. Some value…"

"They are so dumb and so desperate to seem matcho, they just don't really understand what the consequences to what they are doing. Everything is performative," Zak Williams, political consultant at Zenith Strategies, posted on Bluesky.

"American values include a prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment," Grant Stern, managing editor for Occupy Democrats, posted on X.