White House blames WHCA shooting on Democratic rhetoric

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed rhetoric from prominent Democrats for the shooting on Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner. 

“This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, by elected members of the Democrat party and even some in the media,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing on Monday. 

“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,” she said. 

Leavitt called out a number of Democratic lawmakers and leaders for their rhetoric toward Trump, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker; Sens. Alex Padilla (Calif.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.); and Reps. LaMonica McIver (N.J.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) 

Leavitt argued the “left-wing cult of hatred” against President Trump and his supporters has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it “almost did so again this weekend.” 

“When you read the manifesto of the shooter, ask yourselves, how different is the rhetoric from this almost-assassin than what you read on social media and hear in various forms every single day? The answer, if you’re being honest with yourself, is that there is no difference at all,” she said, referring to a manifesto the suspect allegedly wrote prior to the attack, which left no one dead or seriously injured. 

The press secretary also criticized late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for his comments last week, when he said first lady Melania Trump looked like an “expectant widow.” 

“It’s unbelievable that the American people are consuming it night after night after night,” Leavitt said, calling the remark “deranged.” 

Trump released his own statement on Kimmel during the press briefing, calling on Disney and ABC to fire the comedian. His statement was preceded by one from the first lady condemning the sketch.

The White House’s move to blame rhetoric from Democrats comes after Trump called for unity following the shooting, marking a shift in the White House’s messaging on the matter. 

Trump late Saturday called on Americans to “recommit with their hearts and resolve their differences peacefully.”

“I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives,” Trump said, referring to the correspondents’ dinner. “Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they’re not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that.”

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