The law enforcement response to the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is receiving significant scrutiny. Many are questioning why Vice President JD Vance was rushed out of the room before President Donald Trump. This was highlighted in a post by Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich.
This is the moment we realized what was happening and got down on the stage. Seconds before, all we could see was a throng of law enforcement barreling toward us from the doors at the back of the room.
Secret agents swept VP Vance, who was seated next to me, into the back. I laid on the floor for a few minutes as agents scanned the room, guns drawn, looking for threats. One agent asked the other “are you tracking it?” – the other said “no”. For a minute, it wasn’t clear if there was no threat in the room or if they just couldn’t see it. I said a prayer and wished I had my phone, which was on the table, to text my mom at home, and fiance who was at a table in the crowd. Soon, an agent nodded to me that it was OK to crawl backstage – so I did.
Getty Photographer @andyharnik shot this video and many photos – not hesitating for a moment to capture history unfolding, even as a fellow WHCA board member on that stage alongside the President of the United States.
Surreal night.
Here’s what White House correspondent for Diario ABC, David Alandete, noted about what took place:
I was right there. I saw everything.
The reason JD Vance left earlier through a different door from Trump’s is that he was alone.
On the other side of the table were the president, the first lady, and the press secretary, who was very pregnant. The Secret Service immediately created a security perimeter to get them out. Trump, who doesn’t let himself get carried away easily, demanded explanations. He wanted to know what was happening, ordered that the first lady’s evacuation be prioritized, asked that the journalists be removed, and decided to leave on his own two feet but making sure to get the press secretary out first. He didn’t want to duck down. He fell briefly after a shove from the agents and left the room on foot.
It’s quite brave of Trump, and I believe the Secret Service always has to prioritize getting him to safety first. However, it speaks volumes about him that he wanted to prioritize his wife and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt before himself. He demonstrated real courage under pressure, as he did in Butler. Leavitt had just completed her last briefing on Friday because she is about to have a baby this week and will be taking time off.
Melania had a look of shock on her face when she realized what was happening. Trump indicated that she had probably experienced the situation before he did, and he mentioned that it was traumatic for her:
Trump said that immediately, Melania Trump recognized the sound as a ‘bad noise,’ adding that ‘it was a rather traumatic experience for her.’
‘Melania was very cognizant,’ he continued.
The President also shared his wife’s fear for his safety given the multiple assassination attempts against him.
‘The first lady was doing a terrific job. She loves the country. She recognizes it better than any. But she told me numerous times, she said “you are in a dangerous job.”‘
No question about it, this all has to be extremely difficult for the first lady to keep going through this. Trump’s life has been in danger more than that of some members of the military who deployed overseas (not to take anything away from our men and women in uniform, it’s just that some jobs in a war zone are safer than others).
Trump definitely has some good instincts under fire, but this garbage has to stop, and Democrats who incite this violence should have to pay a legal or political price for it.