White House Correspondents' Dinner 2026 shooting disruption

[81usaf92]

Not to be a jerk, but Wallace was shot in 72 when Ford was mostly an unknown outside of Michigan.

Do you mean Nixon or one of the other candidates?

And while I don't want to victim blame here, pretty much all of the more "recent" victims such as RFK and Wallace had been warned, "Hey, you're getting into a situation where we can't totally protect you." I'm almost positive I read that about McKinley as well.

When Reagan was shot, he only had to take six steps from the Hilton to the limo - and it was still enough for Hinckley to hit him, albeit on a ricoche

Yes I meant Nixon. I was referencing ford multiple times so it got fudged in there

SMH

I get it, and I’m not defending the capitol attack, but they didn’t bring firearms like the radical left has in recent years.

Intent can be pretty readily decided via the weapons of choice.

Actually they did bring firearms to January 6th.

Also worth noting they did threaten to hang the Vice President and were actively trying to capture Nancy Pelosi and kill her. I really see any difference between the intentions of a violent mob seeking individuals and someone who pops a shot off at a president.

It’s really no different… just more organized

 

[JDCrimson]

Yes I meant Nixon. I was referencing ford multiple times so it got fudged in there


Actually they did bring firearms to January 6th.

Also worth noting they did threaten to hang the Vice President and were actively trying to capture Nancy Pelosi and kill her. I really see any difference between the intentions of a violent mob seeking individuals and someone who pops a shot off at a president.

It’s really no different… just more organized

It was a J6 prelude but they did beat Pelosi husband with a hammer. If they could have captured her or other Democrat legislators they at a minimum were staging a hostage scene.

The reality is that Trump is luring the liberal extremists into these actions with vile and violent rhetoric and doing it with the cover of a Republican Congress. I would say under the current circumstances Trump has the greater responsibility to manage the tone of the rhetoric having the weight of government behind him. But this is not condoning the rhetoric or actions of the liberal extremists.

 

[arthurdawg]

Yes I meant Nixon. I was referencing ford multiple times so it got fudged in there


Actually they did bring firearms to January 6th.

Also worth noting they did threaten to hang the Vice President and were actively trying to capture Nancy Pelosi and kill her. I really see any difference between the intentions of a violent mob seeking individuals and someone who pops a shot off at a president.

It’s really no different… just more organized

No guns were involved with the firebombing of the Governor's mansion in Pennsylvania... But they were when the Minnesota couple were killed and another couple shot and then the same guy shot at police as well.

Neither side can claim a moral high ground for their fringe elements that are of a disturbed psychiatric status or necessarily fix the issue, but the rhetoric could be calmer. It is a symptom of social media and the echo chamber to a great degree.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

It was a J6 prelude but they did beat Pelosi husband with a hammer.

I'm sure it's my fault for misunderstanding you, but:
a) the attack on Paul Pelosi was on October 28, 2022 (easily remembered as it's my birthday)
b) "they" was one person in that attack, a mentally ill Canadian

If they could have captured her or other Democrat legislators they at a minimum were staging a hostage scene.

Are you referring here to J6 or the hammer attack - or both (conceivably)?

What there is no doubt about in my mind and NEVER has been: not one of those folks should have even been there that day if their intent (as seems clear) was mischief. Amazingly, most of those people there were folks who were pretty well off by most American standards (after all, they could afford to fly to DC and rent hotels, etc) - and they had a lot to lose if they had a business, for example.

The reality is that Trump is luring the liberal extremists into these actions with vile and violent rhetoric and doing it with the cover of a Republican Congress. I would say under the current circumstances Trump has the greater responsibility to manage the tone of the rhetoric having the weight of government behind him.

I think this is a fair point.

Hell, I'm old enough to remember when conservatives and Republicans said something about Clinton was supposed to be the moral leader of the USA and set the example, only one of many ideals that too many conservatives (not me) have abandoned while worshipping the golden calf of Trumpism. Once upon a time - and it wasn't too long ago - conservatives were seen (if anything) as too rigid, too inflexible, in some cases overly committed to principle.

Donald Trump ended all that for 85% of conservatism. Those who held to their principles - Corker, Flake, Kinzinger, Cheney - all in the unemployment line as far as politics goes.

But this is not condoning the rhetoric or actions of the liberal extremists.

I go back to what @81usaf92 has said repeatedly: RARELY are these attacks REALLY politically based.
Don't get me wrong, this one absolutely is - we have a manifesto (you know, like we had from the guy who killed Speaker Hortman's family and dog) - but most of the time these attacks are people wanting to get famous the easy way.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Actually they did bring firearms to January 6th.

A 72-year-old Army veteran who admitted he left loaded guns, machetes and 11 Molotov cocktails in a truck near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee, told Lonnie Coffman that he had a “small armory in his truck ready to do battle.”

“I don’t think in all my years as a judge I’ve had quite such a collection of weapons to deal with,” Kollar-Kotelly said. “These are very serious offenses.”

Coffman, of Falkville, Alabama, pleaded guilty in November to possession of destructive devices — the 11 Molotov cocktails — and carrying a pistol without a license in Washington, D.C. He also pleaded guilty to possession of destructive devices for another dozen Molotov cocktails found at his home in Alabama.

============================

And for anyone who wants to argue the semantics of "well, that wasn't technically inside the Capitol"......we move to the Capitol grounds.....

Guy Reffitt, a Texan who prosecutors said “lit the match” of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced to 7 1/4 years in prison on Monday, the longest sentence of any rioter to date but less than what the Justice Department had pushed for.

Reffitt, who was a recruiter for the antigovernment movement The Three Percenters, never entered the Capitol but helped ignite the crowd “into an unstoppable force” against police officers who were attempting to protect the Senate wing doors, a prosecutor at the trial said. He was equipped with a handgun, body armor, a helmet, radio and flex cuffs.

 

[Huckleberry]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/27/politics/trump-violent-rhetoric-analysis

Trump’s hypocritical crusade on violent rhetoric — and the country’s emerging split reality

A month ago, President Donald Trump unabashedly celebrated the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump said. “He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

On Monday, Trump and his White House responded to a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend by decrying Democrats’ supposedly beyond-the-pale rhetoric and labeling them a “cult of hatred.”

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Blanche: "Many people in this room have done it as well. They're just as guilty as a lot of people on X. When you have reporters, when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, it shouldn't surprise us that this type of….

When Todd Blanche grows a pair and says this publicly about his boss, who used the Hitlerian phrase “enemy of the people,” I’ll listen.

Until then, he can go pluck a duck.

 

[Bamaro]

SMH

I get it, and I’m not defending the capitol attack, but they didn’t bring firearms like the radical left has in recent years.

Intent can be pretty readily decided via the weapons of choice.

If that angry mob had actually gotten ahold of Pense, anything was possible.

 

[bamacpa]

If that angry mob had actually gotten ahold of Pense, anything was possible.

They did have a gallows set up.

 

[JDCrimson]

I'm sure it's my fault for misunderstanding you, but:
a) the attack on Paul Pelosi was on October 28, 2022 (easily remembered as it's my birthday)
b) "they" was one person in that attack, a mentally ill Canadian




Are you referring here to J6 or the hammer attack - or both (conceivably)?

What there is no doubt about in my mind and NEVER has been: not one of those folks should have even been there that day if their intent (as seems clear) was mischief. Amazingly, most of those people there were folks who were pretty well off by most American standards (after all, they could afford to fly to DC and rent hotels, etc) - and they had a lot to lose if they had a business, for example.





I think this is a fair point.

Hell, I'm old enough to remember when conservatives and Republicans said something about Clinton was supposed to be the moral leader of the USA and set the example, only one of many ideals that too many conservatives (not me) have abandoned while worshipping the golden calf of Trumpism. Once upon a time - and it wasn't too long ago - conservatives were seen (if anything) as too rigid, too inflexible, in some cases overly committed to principle.

Donald Trump ended all that for 85% of conservatism. Those who held to their principles - Corker, Flake, Kinzinger, Cheney - all in the unemployment line as far as politics goes.




I go back to what @81usaf92 has said repeatedly: RARELY are these attacks REALLY politically based.
Don't get me wrong, this one absolutely is - we have a manifesto (you know, like we had from the guy who killed Speaker Hortman's family and dog) - but most of the time these attacks are people wanting to get famous the easy way.

I was referring to Nancy Pelosi being taken hostage on J6. There was a cell of J6ers who had violent intentions and Trump issued a call of duty to them.

While he is Canadian, I do think the alt-right of American politics does spill across borders just as the conservatives would argue Antifa has foreign elements to its movement.

With the Citizens United decision in 2013? by SCOTUS that opened the floodgates for dark (foreign) money to flow into our federal and state political campaigns. And it was a direct retribution response for Obama's re-election regardless of the basis of that retribution. The Conservatives saw the handwriting on the wall regarding future election success. They broke the glass in case of emergency. And this is what has been unleashed on us...

 

[DzynKingRTR]

for a lot of people that complain about whataboutism there is a lot of whataboutism going on in this thread.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

for a lot of people that complain about whataboutism there is a lot of whataboutism going on in this thread.

True, but it’s vegan-sourced whataboutism, so it’s more sociably acceptable than non-green whataboutism.

 

[T Bone]

We are a divided people, exactly what they want. And I mean all of them, if they have us going at each other we surely will not rally as a people. And they can merrily go about their way stealing, stock dealing, and dating young girls etc. And wonder who made out on that money betting on when the war will start. this is but a drip from the faucet. I fear for our republic itself.

 

[Bazza]

for a lot of people that complain about whataboutism there is a lot of whataboutism going on in this thread.

 

[crimsonaudio]

 

[75thru79]

DELETED

Isn't it Jesus that said "those among you without sin cast the first stone"? If you really want to tone down the rhetoric then maybe stop claiming every poster on this board that is a conservative is a "MAGA cult member" and a "Roach".

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Feels like this thread has become a blame loop.

All of us should and I think do agree assassination is a line we should not cross.

I think it is pretty clear that both sides have rushed to harsher rhetoric and at times violent acts. Trying to argue who is worse is mostly futile and useless. Neither side is going to say "we're the problem" and take on all the blame, so this line of argument is mostly just to make ourselves feel better and to push blame.

What's most concerning to me is neither side is doing much, that I can see, to calm this down. There's been a lot of focus on who is more responsible but that doesn't move the conversation forward in any meaningful way. It is fair to call out rhetoric and hypocrisy but only if you apply the same standard across political borders.

It would be wonderful for a voice of authority on either side to come out with a calm yet strong statement denouncing all of it. Unfortunately there seem to be very few, if any, of those in power with the courage to do so. It seems the days of McCain telling a voter at a town hall that Obama is a good man are gone. It is hard for me to see how things improve without a pretty radical change from somewhere.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Isn't it Jesus that said "those among you without sin cast the first stone"? If you really want to tone down the rhetoric then maybe stop claiming every poster on this board that is a conservative is a "MAGA cult member" and a "Roach".

When the right starts to call out Trump's rhetoric, that's when I start to care about what they think of the left's rhetoric.


I did not call a single person on this board a roach. I called the GOP congressman who introduced bills to use taxpayer funds to pay for Trump's ballroom roaches. They are scurrying to take advantage of the situation.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

View attachment 57042

And conservatives...

 

[Bazza]