RNC chairman blames ‘radicalized left’ for White House correspondents’ dinner shooting
Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters on Sunday blamed the left for the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling the attack “the inevitable result of a radicalized left that has normalized political violence.”
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, condemned the attack, saying “violence is never the answer” after a gunman charged a security checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton ballroom Saturday evening before being arrested by Secret Service agents.
Mr. Gruters said Democrats were undermining the very agencies charged with protecting Americans by refusing to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Secret Service.
“Democrats can make all the empty calls for ‘unity’ they want, but their actions tell the truth: They have repeatedly blocked funding for DHS and the law enforcement agencies charged with protecting Americans,” Gruters said. “You cannot stir up division, compromise public safety, and then claim to be defending peace. »
“Until Democrats fully fund our security, their words are worthless,” he added.
A law enforcement officer was struck Saturday while wearing a bulletproof vest and released from the hospital.
President Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated from the event.
The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, left a manifesto describing himself as the “friendly federal assassin” and declaring his intention to target members of the Trump administration, the New York Post reported. The White House said its social media accounts reflected anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric.
Mr. Trump called him a “moron.”
Mr. Jeffries, appearing on Fox News on Sunday, rebuffed attempts to assign political blame.
“Violence is never the solution, whether directed against the right, the left or the center,” Mr. Jeffries said. “We have issues that we need to resolve among ourselves. That’s enshrined in the First Amendment, which was celebrated last night, but what’s also enshrined in the First Amendment is the right to peacefully protest and peacefully petition the government.”
As for the impasse over DHS funding, Mr. Jeffries said he doesn’t understand why a funding bill passed by the Senate has not yet passed the House.
“We need to make sure every Secret Service agent continues to get paid, every TSA, Coast Guard and FEMA agent, as well as the hard-working men and women in the Department of Homeland Security,” Jeffries said.
Secret Service agents are paid with emergency funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reportedly warned lawmakers that those funds would run out in early May, raising fears that agents and other DHS employees could soon find themselves without a paycheck.
