# Companion Thread to Shots Fired at White House Correspondents' Dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 26, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559 "2026-04-26T02:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/81 "2026-04-26T19:09:03Z")
I think that the premise is that they let everyone know what they were doing because they’re just that stupid. Which is sadly plausible. See, for comparison, Trump bragging about the successful strike on Iran’s underground facilities an hour before the planes could have gotten there. ---
**Author:** ![doomtastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@doomtastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomtastic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/82 "2026-04-26T19:13:57Z")
And I’d consider that if there wasn’t an alternative, simpler, and much more believable explanation for the comment. Yes they are stupid. So is thinking this is an admission of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/83 "2026-04-26T19:18:33Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Is Trump’s incompetence extending into the Secret Service and making them incompetent too? This one doesn’t seem like incompetence, from what I can see. The shooter was stopped outside the venue, presumably unable to get past the open part of the hotel into the actual venue; that is, the security perimeter did its job. Maybe the perimeter should have been larger? But he didn’t actually get in, did he? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/84 "2026-04-26T19:21:25Z")
Does anyone know how the Secret Service subdued the suspect? He’s reportedly still alive, so he probably wasn’t shot. Which would make sense: the guests downstairs might have been in the line of fire. There are diagrams showing how he broke through and sprinted past the checkpoint, and ended up on the floor, near the top of the stairway that leads down to the ballroom. But no information on how they stopped him. Please correct any information I’ve got wrong. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/85 "2026-04-26T19:37:23Z")
He appears to have been terribly underemployed for his level of education. Maybe it’s been posted here, I haven’t read the whole thread, but the New York Post (yeah, I know) has published his quasi-manifesto. > **[Exclusive | Read White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman Cole Allen’s full...](https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/us-news/read-whcd-gunman-cole-allens-full-anti-trump-manifesto/)** > > In the 1,052-word missive obtained by The Post Sunday morning outlined Allen’s “rules of engagement” for the shooting and stated he believed it was his righteous duty to target ad… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/86 "2026-04-26T19:38:45Z")
It is? That’s a new one to me. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/87 "2026-04-26T19:45:41Z")
“And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” So, there you have it, the clear evidence that the Democrats are responsible for yet another attempted assassination of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![doomtastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@doomtastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomtastic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/88 "2026-04-26T19:47:19Z")
It’s been around for a good bit now, but you’re forgiven for not knowing it if you don’t hang out in online spaces frequented by younger millennials and gen z. [Here’s a reference to it on reddit from 11 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/3vnl7v/what_does_it_means_when_someone_comments_shots/) [Know your meme entry, also from 11-12 years ago](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shots-fired) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/89 "2026-04-26T19:48:43Z")
> [@doomtastic](#): > > “Shots fired” is common online slang for rhetorically attacking someone. This is likely her saying the President is going to verbally attack his enemies in his speech tonight (which then didn’t happen because literal shots were fired). I agree. Leavitt using that figurative term was a rather extraordinary coincidence. But it fits. Initially I was surprised that Trump deigned to show up, because the Correspondents Dinner is traditionally a venue for poking gentle fun at the president, and for the president himself to give a speech mainly intended to be funny and a little self-deprecating. Since the Orange One has zero sense of humour along with very low intelligence, this would be anathema to him. But if his intent was to use the speech for the usual self-aggrandizement and castigating the media for failing to celebrate him as the bestest president ever and blaming them for his plummetting popularity numbers, his appearance at the WHCD makes sense from his warped POV – an opportunity to air his grievances and dump on the media. His intent, IOW, was typical Trump: turn what’s supposed to be a pleasant and entertaining evening into an egotistical celebration of himself and a hostile rant against everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/90 "2026-04-26T19:57:46Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It is? That’s a new one to me. I’ve certainly heard it. I take it to mean “fighting words” or near enough to that. Throwing a verbal punch and not mincing words. I dislike this admin but I never took her words to mean actual gunfire. Also, even if there was a false flag op going on here (which I seriously doubt…still a little on the fence but mostly convinced now this was just some rando nutjob) I can’t imagine she’d be in the loop to know about it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/91 "2026-04-26T19:59:23Z")
There is a picture of him online, that may not be verified yet, of the shooter wearing an Israeli Defense Forces, tshirt. Supposedly from his Instagram and supposedly scrubbed. Also, he sent some weird ramblings to his sibling that concerned them enough that they reported the shooter to the Feds. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/92 "2026-04-26T20:14:41Z")
Analysis of the shooting by journalist Garrett M. Graff. > **[A quick analysis of last night's shooting](https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/a-quick-analysis-of-last-night-s-shooting)** > > So far, it appears the system worked as intended. > In the hours since, I’ve seen a lot of arm-chair-quarterbacking about how the whole hotel should have been behind the security cordon or how shocked shocked _shocked_ guests were that security seemed so lax at the entrances, etc., etc., but most of those critiques misunderstand two major things: > **(1)** **You always have to have an outer security perimeter** ; and > **(2)** **The goal of the Secret Service isn’t to prevent** _ **any** _ **incident at a high-profile event — it’s to prevent an incident that could harm the president**. > Yes, you can always push the security checkpoints out further, but there will _always_ have to be a first moment where the unvetted and unsecured public approaches a security check. You’ll hear similar complaints/quarterbacking when there are shootings at airports: _“How did someone get inside the airport with a gun?”_ Because anyone can walk through the _first_ door. Security in a free society is always a trade-off. Push the security checkpoints back to the curb, and the attack will just happen at the curb instead. The perp did not make it to the floor where the ballroom was held. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/93 "2026-04-26T20:15:48Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > even if there was a false flag op going on here Based on the manifesto I don’t think it was a false flag because if it was, the manifesto would not repeatedly call Trump a rapist and a pedophile. Compare this to the Charlie Kirk shooter’s text messages which were oddly specific and looked planted, even if they were not. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/94 "2026-04-26T20:29:32Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It remains that Trump somehow manages to get shot at more than any other president ever. Point of pedantry: HE has actually been shot AT _once_. The two other times the suspects were stopped at the perimeter or shortly upon breaching it and any shots fired were exchanged between them and security. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/95 "2026-04-26T20:33:37Z")
I think Gerald Ford has Trump beat for the frequency of assassination attempts, especially given his short tenure. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/96 "2026-04-26T21:03:31Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Based on the manifesto I don’t think it was a false flag because if it was, the manifesto would not repeatedly call Trump a rapist and a pedophile. The manifesto sounds wholly believable to me. I’ve criticized the Secret Service before. But here we have a situation where – taking the manifesto at face value, as I do – the alleged perpetrator was intending suicide by cop, and yet he was captured without injury. That’s impressive. If it turns out to be a case of bad Secret Service marksmanship, I’ll have to take the paragraph above back. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/97 "2026-04-26T21:23:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think Gerald Ford has Trump beat for the frequency of assassination attempts, especially given his short tenure. [Wikipedia lists 17 attempts against Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots), compared to 13 for Obama and 5 for both Clinton (one might have been directed at Hillary) and 5 against Lincoln. Granted some of those attempts were thwarted at an early stage, OTOH there have been a large number of attempts against Obama even after he left office in 2009. But Fidel Castro survived more than 600 assassinations attempts/plots, most of them by the U.S., and Charles De Gaulle survived more than 30, so Trump has a way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/98 "2026-04-26T21:26:24Z")
The Secret Service probably doesn’t report all of the attempts. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/99 "2026-04-26T21:40:36Z")
Maybe not but lists exist (more attempts than I knew about): > **[Security incidents involving Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_incidents_involving_Donald_Trump)** > > Donald Trump has been the target of assassination attempts and death threats during his presidential campaigning and his presidencies of the United States of America. > The earliest known attempt occurred at a campaign rally in Las Vegas shortly before he secured the nomination of the Republican Party in the 2016 presidential election. Throughout Trump's first term in office, he was targeted but unharmed in several failed assassination attempts. > The most serious incident took place at a Pennsy... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559/100 "2026-04-26T21:59:46Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > He appears to have been terribly underemployed for his level of education. A master’s degree is quite common for teachers. I’m sure he could have gotten a better-paying job with those specific degrees, but I’ve met multiple former engineers who decided to go into teaching (and stay in teaching for the long haul) even despite the lower pay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-to-shots-fired-at-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1029559.md?page=6)