President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that the Fort Hood mass murderer will be executed by firing squad, reacting to the killer's pending death sentence during remarks to reporters.
The president was asked whether the execution would be live streamed and if he worried the video could be used as propaganda.
"He will be killed, he will be through firing squad," Trump said. "He killed 13-14 people, badly wounded 20 some odd people, and he's totally nuts. So I really don't care how he goes, as long as he goes, and I think that the death penalty is a very worthy way of going to him."
When asked if he would watch the execution, Trump repeated the question and described the attack. "The worst kill is he walked into a roomy side and killing everybody," he said.
Trump Reacts to Mike Ditka's Death
President Trump also reacted to the passing of NFL coaching legend and longtime supporter Mike Ditka, learning of the death during the exchange with reporters.
"He was a great guy. He was with me all the way. He was tough," Trump said. "Mike did, that's a sad one. You just tell me that now for the first time they heard about it. Wow. He was great. He was a big supporter of mine."
The president added: "And now he was a winner. He was a tough cookie. He was great."
Mike Tyson Joins Trump on Stage in Syracuse
Earlier in the day, Trump praised boxing legend Mike Tyson during a stop in Syracuse, New York.
"This is Iron Mike Tyson. I won't be fighting him today, but I've been his fan for a long time. We've been friends for a long time," Trump said. "Iron Mike — there's nobody like him."
In video remarks, the president described Tyson's dominance in the ring. "It was the champion. It was a real champion. People were afraid to fight him. They were afraid to fight him. He was something special."
Tyson later joined the president on stage, telling the crowd: "I'm just happy to be up here with my president, President Trump, and there's no way in the world I would ever be here if it wasn't for a president like Donald Trump."
Tyson also joked about the president: "I don't want to fight him."
The Syracuse event was part of Trump's push to elect Republicans in New York. "We're going up to a place called Syracuse and we're going to get some wonderful people elected," the president said.
