White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called on ‘everyone’ to watch US President Donald Trump’s speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner, claiming it would be “funny”, “entertaining”, and “there will be some shots fired tonight”.
What initially appeared to be a figurative reference to Trump taking verbal jabs during his speech soon took on a far more unsettling meaning. Moments later, loud bangs believed to be gunshots rang out at the venue, triggering panic inside the hotel ballroom and prompting Secret Service agents to swiftly evacuate Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and several top cabinet officials from the event.
Shooting at White House Correspondents Dinner
US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after loud bangs were heard.
About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a "shooter had been apprehended."
"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," Trump added.
{{/usCountry}}"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," Trump added.
{{/usCountry}}(Also read: White House shooting: Video shows how Trump was evacuated in seconds as gunshots rang out)
Dinner attendees immediately stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!" as loud bangs were heard at the venue. Many of the 2,000-plus guests took cover under tables. Servers fled to the front of the dining hall.
Karoline Leavitt’s interview goes viral
Shortly before the dinner began, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had told Fox News that everyone should tune in to watch Trump’s speech.
“He is ready to rumble, I will tell you. This speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It'll be funny, it'll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight, so everyone should tune in. It's gonna be really great. I'm looking forward to hearing it,” she said.
Her words proved strangely prophetic as shots rang out during the annual press dinner, which was underway at a Washington hotel. A video of the interview has crossed 4 million views on X.
“This aged oddly,” wrote one person in the comments section.
“Yikes this did not age well. I hate Trump but I'm glad he and all the attendees are safe,” another said.
“The Facebook groups and WhatsApp aunties gonna have a field day with the conspiracy theories,” an X user predicted.
“Wow that’s a crazy coincidence given the shooting,” a person added.