Alex GriffingApr 27th, 2026, 1:28 pm

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting on Saturday night in a lengthy opening during her Monday briefing and accused a “left-wing cult of hatred” of fueling violence against President Donald Trump.

Leavitt began by recalling the incident and praising Trump, saying, “The president’s calm in the face of chaos, while yet another individual was trying to take his life, was really remarkable to witness, and it’s something I will never forget.”

“President Trump is fearless because he loves this country and he is willing to put his own life on the line to deliver on the promises that he made to the American public who elected him to the highest office in the land. And while we are blessed to have a fearless president, we should not live in a country where such constant fear of political violence permeates our society every single day. We can and we should have fierce disagreement in this country,” she continued, adding:

As you all know, we disagree often, myself in this role and all of you in the news media. But those disagreements must remain peaceful. Debating, peaceful protesting, and voting are how we need to settle disagreements, not bullets. Nobody in recent years has faced more bullets and more violence than President Trump. This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party, and even some in the media. This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump day after day after day for 11 years has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.

Those who constantly, falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy, and compare him to Hitler to score political points are fueling this kind of violence. The left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend. When you read the manifesto of this shooter, ask yourselves, how different is the rhetoric from this almost-assassin than what you read on social media and hear in various forums every single day?

The answer, if you’re being honest with yourself, is that there is no difference at all. Much of the manifesto of the would-be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily from so many.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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