Fox News analyst Ralph Peters said Monday that Edward Snowden's leaks constituted "treason" punishable by execution.
Peters was speaking to Brian Kilmeade on "Fox and Friends," and argued that no Americans have been hurt by the secret government surveillance programs that Snowden exposed.
“Now you’ve got this 29-year-old high school dropout whistleblower making foreign policy for our country, our security policy,” he lamented. “It’s sad, Brian. We’ve made treason cool. Betraying your country is kind of a fashion statement. He wants to be the national security Kim Kardashian. He cites Bradley Manning as a hero.”
Peters continued, “I mean, we need to get very, very serious about treason. And oh by the way, for treason — as in the case of Bradley Manning or Edwards Snowden — you bring back the death penalty.”
Glenn Beck, who hailed Snowden as a "hero," said he was "shocked" by the comments on Monday.
Peters has made similar incendiary remarks in the past, once famously declaring that Julian Assange should be assassinated.
Snowden revealed himself to be the whistleblower who leaked the National Security Agency's surveillance of Verizon phone records and personal data from Internet firms. He told the Guardian that he left the United States for Hong Kong and stayed in a hotel for three weeks. One hotel revealed that a guest by the name of Edward Snowden had been staying there, but checked out on Monday. It is unclear whether Snowden is still in Hong Kong.