Hot Takes: Anti-Trump Crowd Goes Off the Rails After WHCD Shooting

After hearing the news about the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, most people responded with concern for President Donald Trump and the other people who were in danger at the event.

Trump himself held a briefing a half hour later, spoke about unity, and called on people to be committed to acting. Hell froze over as even the media seemed to acknowledge his humanity and strength, including reaching out to a reporter to see how he was.

But in a moment where so many came together in concern for the president and others, there was immediately craziness from some on the left and the anti-Trump crew. There was immediate talk about it being "staged" or a "false flag," despite the alleged shooter being caught, a Secret Service agent being hit in the protective vest, and all the videos and coverage of the event.

Iran's state media Press TV even commented on how "US activists" called it a false flag.

US President Trump was rushed offstage by the Secret Service after shots were fired outside the White House Correspondents' Center, while some US activists doubted Trump's narrative and described the incident as a new false-flag psychological operation by his team. pic.twitter.com/3WDyydnrpy
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 26, 2026

Then, what would a hot-takes story be without the bad Rick Wilson post? This is a beyond dumb take.

Total coincidence. Right? https://t.co/xn6x28Mokj
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 26, 2026

Yes, Rick, it was a coincidence. "Shots fired" in that context was a joke, about the jokes Trump was going to tell and troll the media with at the dinner, that anyone with at least one brain cell would know. If one were actually planning shots fired, they wouldn't say it.

This one from the Lincoln Project's Steve Schmidt is just unhinged. The Daily Wire caught Schmidt at Substack’s New Media Party, an alternative to the Correspondents’ Dinner held near the White House. He blamed Trump.

Immediately after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Lincoln Project co-founder @SteveSchmidtSES blamed President Trump for "poisoning the rhetoric" in America:

"He is a vile and disgusting man." pic.twitter.com/dUG2XrcCDl
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 26, 2026

That was pretty bad.

The language from the alleged shooter's manifesto was similar, calling Trump "a pedophile, rapist, and traitor." He also went to a "No Kings" protest, according to reports.

So weird Donald didn't stand up, ask for his shoes, defiantly raise his fist, and say "Fight, fight, fight."
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) April 26, 2026

Gross.

In some ways, the comment from Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-8) was perhaps the most ridiculous of them all, as he played clueless when asked about the rhetoric used by Democrats against Trump.

Bash: You and many Democrats have used some heated rhetoric against the president. Do you think twice about that when something like this happens?

Raskin: What rhetoric? pic.twitter.com/SfkoXw1wj3
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 26, 2026

"What rhetoric?" Raskin asked.

Bash, who obviously isn't used to actually putting Democrats on the spot, didn't pull out a good example. But of course, over the years, there have been any number of examples.

Just last week, this was Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-14) calling for "maximum warfare."

Hakeem Jeffries last week: "We are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere, all the time." pic.twitter.com/1Cx7vSmghc
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 26, 2026

So yeah, no, Jamie, no one is buying it, and you can't act now like the Democrats haven't been stoking the rhetoric for years.

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