The “Big Three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC each provided extensive coverage on their lead Monday morning news shows of Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) shooting that we learned was a third assassination attempt against President Trump in less than two years. But when it came to coverage of the suspect’s ideology and motive, they refused to engage on the former and couldn’t bring themselves to refer to him as a leftist, left-wing, liberal, Marxist, or even progressive. ABC’s Good Morning America was true to form as by far the most ludicrous. Longtime Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas declared off the top of his report about Cole Thomas Allen that “[l]aw enforcement sources are describing allegations that point to a suspect who is extremely intelligent and who was meticulous in planning to conduct a mass shooting that was intended to kill top administration officials, including, possibly the President.” Notice how this story from Monday’s ‘Good Morning America’ on ABC did nothing to ascribe ideology or political leanings to the #WCHD shooter, merely referring to the suspect as “extremely intelligent and who was meticulous in planning to conduct a mass shooting that was intended… pic.twitter.com/QqsLb7kfW3 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 “Sources describe a message Cole Allen allegedly sent to his family before the attack. That message allegedly describes grievances against Trump administration officials, expressing how, if necessary, he would kill from the highest ranking to the lowest, including any Secret Service member that got in his way. allegedly ends the message with a critique of hotel security,” Thomas added. Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos recognized this was the “third assassination attempt against President Trump and the domestic terror threat, about as high as it’s ever been,” but refused to go any further. Thomas kept it vague, thus playing both-sides: “George, this is perhaps the most dangerous threat environment since 9/11. And there has been a surge in politically motivated attacks, like nothing we’ve seen in decades.” In the show’s second hour, chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky explicitly tried to both-sides recent political violence, leaving out the crucial fact that the suspected arsonist targeted Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro’s mansion because he was a leftist upset about Israel’s war against Hamas and, in his deranged view, Shapiro was culpable because he’s Jewish: ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ DOWNPLAYS political violence against Republicans, arguing it’s happening equally to both parties... Aaron Katersky: “Sources also told ABC News the suspect sent a message to his family just before allegedly rushing the checkpoint, describing himself… pic.twitter.com/ImFeyADnob — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Going over to NBC’s Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie said shortly after the teases the suspect would be arraigned later in the day and “investigators say was armed and believed to be targeting President Trump and other high-level officials who were attending the dinner.” “Meanwhile, President Trump speaking out overnight amid new details about anti-Trump messages the suspect sent to family members,” co-host Craig Melvin added. Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez had the tick-tock of Saturday, but included in his report a line about “a senior administration official say[ing] Cole sent writings to family members expressing a desire to target administration officials.” Allen’s motive fell to longtime correspondent Kelly O’Donnell, who remained vague: NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell claimed on Monday’s ‘Today’ show that the #WHCD shooting suspect “left behind writings that...could unlock a motive” and “[a]uthorities say they hope to identify what they call a triggering event” and his manifesto merely referred to “intended targets” and… pic.twitter.com/plC7J37h5l — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 National law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter was on set with Guthrie and, while he couldn’t bring himself to call Allen a leftist, he was unequivocal in telling viewers that Allen wanted to take out the President: NBC’s Savannah Guthrie and Tom Winter couldn’t bring themselves to use a political label — liberal, leftist, lefty, progressive, or Marxist — to describe the #WHCD shooter who wanted to kill the President and members of his cabinet.... Guthrie: “You’ve seen some of the writings… pic.twitter.com/JOBstVtrEG — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Later in the block, Winter emphasized “law enforcement’s biggest concern is that the idea that you could solve your political problems or your personal problems through violence and targeted attacks could then take root in American society” and that’s borne out with three Trump assassination attempts, Charlie Kirk’s murder, the United HealthCare CEO, and, in an attempt at supposed balance, the Minnesota Democrats: NBC’s Tom Winter on the ‘Today’ show discussing the political violence: “Look, we sat here on July 14, 2024, this exact set, and talked about the concern following the first Trump administration attempt. What did that mean? And law enforcement’s biggest concern is that the idea… pic.twitter.com/43Z6t1APwi — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 CBS Mornings was also rather cursory in its reporting. After co-host Gayle King stated off the top that “[t]he suspect...is a teacher from...a Los Angeles suburb...with no previous criminal record,” it aired a portion of 60 Minutes when Norah O’Donnell read aloud the portion of the suspect’s alleged manifesto lashing out at Trump as “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor,” which led to an fiery response from the President. Back live, fill-in co-host Major Garrett said it was something O’Donnell “had to ask” Trump about while, for her part, O’Donnell said it was part of “these...important questions about what happened and why it happened” and “the state of America — political violence and extremism.” To their credit, they were the only broadcast network morning show to mention the conspiracy theories on the far left and far right questioning whether the shooting was staged: Earlier in the show, @NorahODonnell shared part of her '60 Minutes' conversation with President Trump about these conspiracy theories pic.twitter.com/h31vSWqBtY — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Monday's 'CBS Mornings' was the only broadcast network morning show to mention and rip down the insane conspiracy theories swirling (on the left and right) that Saturday's #WHCD shooting was somehow "staged"@MajorCBS Garrett: "You can fill in blanks that don't exist. There are… pic.twitter.com/HX5Sj6ECML — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 But during its own report on the suspect, chief correspondent Matt Gutman largely hewed to one (but nonetheless important) aspect of the investigation in the path the shooter took Saturday, including walking viewers up to his hotel room and down the stairwell to the hallways outside the ballroom. On the writings, however, he only said Allen “expressed deep anger at the administration, and said he was targeting administration officials from the highest ranking to the lowest.” Adding he was “teacher from Southern California...awarded Teacher of the Month at a College Prep Academy in December of 2024,” Gutman summarized the manifesto as having declared he would be “targeting Trump administration officials ‘from highest ranking to lowest’” and that security was minimal. To see the relevant transcripts from April 27, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez of The Atlantic was the star of the latest episode of the journalist roundtable Washington Week. After moderator (and Sanchez boss) Jeffrey Goldberg introduced the program with the dubious claim that “Iran is in the driver’s seat in the Gulf,” among other debatable anti-Trump declarations, he pivoted to Sanchez, a Phoenix-based reporter making her Washington Week debut, made the most of it by taking people’s legitimate economic worries up to 11: Much of her rhetoric was familiar from her recent story from Arizona for The Atlantic, "Trump Voters Are Over It." YVONNE WINGETT SANCHEZ: It is terrifying to a lot of people. They -- for a lot of people, this just came out of nowhere. They have no idea what we're doing, why we're there. This is a president who promised that he would not do this. He would only bring peace. They're paying more at the pump. They're canceling their summer vacations. They can't afford to take their wives and families out for dinner. I mean, there's a huge disconnect between what is happening out in the real world and how people are absorbing this moment in his decisions and how they may view this playing out by the time the midterms actually roll around. Gas going up a dollar means no restaurant meals? No summer vacations?  Yvonne Wingett Sanchez made a dramatic debut at the PBS Washington Week roundtable talking Trump, Iraq, and prices: "It is terrifying to a lot of people. They -- for a lot of people, this just came out of nowhere. They have no idea what we're doing, why we're there." pic.twitter.com/JwTrhfBiPa — Clay Waters (@claywaters44) April 27, 2026 Host Goldberg returned to her later for more hyped-up talk of Democratic optimism on the midterms JEFFREY GOLDBERG: …. Yvonne, you've spent a lot of time crisscrossing Arizona and other states talking to Trump supporters. And what you've heard has really surprised you. Let me read this one observation you made in The Atlantic early this week. “Midterm elections are typically rough for an incumbent president's party, but this year threatens to be brutal. Trump's approval is lower right now than it was at this point ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.” What are you -- what have you been hearing in the last couple of weeks, last few weeks from MAGA voters? YVONNE WINGETT SANCHEZ: Yes. I mean, it is the sacrifices that they are having to make within their own homes and within their own households to be able to afford this environment. And this is very much -- to a lot of people, this feels like COVID era prices. It feels like, psychologically, they feel like they are in a really bad economic spot. They're pre-buying electronics. They are cutting back on, like I said, like the family vacations. Like they feel like they are having to make sacrifices for someone that they didn`t want to. Asked about Democrat chances in Arizona in the midterms, Sanchez was giddy with favorable predictions. SANCHEZ: I do. There are two toss-up House seats, one held by representative David Schweikert, Scottsdale-based, wealthy voters there are livid. They are very tuned in. This is a lot of independent voters, centrist Republicans who have just had it. Down south in the Tucson-based Congressional district held by Representative Juan Ciscomani, a Republican that has narrowly flipped back and forth over the last several cycles, and that is a seat that Democrats think that they can flip. They can pick up two seats in Arizona easily, possibly a third. Both of these districts were tight victories last time, so we’ll see how those optimistic Democratic predictions pan out for Sanchez.  But you can't miss that PBS is your channel for giddy Democrat talk. 

“These are Democrat elected officials calling for war against the president of the United States and his supporters,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday, quoting specific Democrat politicians’ violent rhetoric. "The entire Democratic Party has made their pitch to voters across the country, that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist, and they compare him to Hitler," Leavitt said at a press event addressing Saturday’s assassination attempt at the White House Correspondence Dinner by citing the kind of comments by Democrats she said inspires such violence. Leavitt read inflammatory comments made by: Rep. Hakeem Jeffrey Gov. Josh Shapiro Sen. Alex Padilla Sen. Elizabeth Warren Sen. Adam Schiff Sen. Ed Markey Gov. JB Pritzker Rep. Ayanna Pressley Rep. Monica McIver “I could go on and on,” Press Sec. Leavitt said, explaining that Democrats’ barrage of hateful, violent rhetoric inspires violence: “But again, when you have people in positions that are saying things like this every single day for years, you are inspiring violence by people who are already mentally ill. And that’s what we've seen against this president for far too long.” "The entire Democratic Party has made their pitch to voters across the country, that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist, and they compare him to Hitler."@PressSec lays out some of the many examples of Democrat rhetoric fueling violence: pic.twitter.com/0U5mnwArUp — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 27, 2026  

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered impassioned call Monday afternoon for the liberal, elite media and their elected allies to cease their years of hateful, incendiary rhetoric against President Trump and his tens of millions of supporters that sadly resulted at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) in an attempt on his life and many in his cabinet. In perhaps her strongest press briefing opening statement of her tenure, Leavitt began by making clear “Saturday was supposed to be a joyful evening celebrating free speech and the First Amendment with all of you members of the press,” but was derailed “by a crazed anti-Trump individual who traveled across the country to assassinate the President and as many administration officials as possible.” .@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “As I told many of you on Friday afternoon, I thought that would be my last time taking your questions until after my maternity leave. But given the attempted assassination of the president and ‘top Trump administration officials,’ as the depraved… pic.twitter.com/fYm4HA4wYw — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Next, she noted that “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.” She correctly stated the timeless American ideal that “[w]e can and we should have fierce disagreement in this country” amongst each other, but they “must remain peaceful” as “debating, peaceful protesting, and voting are how we need to settle disagreements, not bullets.” .@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “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 here into the highest office in the land. And while we are… pic.twitter.com/6yUz2kaDEm — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 That said, she acknowledged recently history (click “expand”):  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 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. Leavitt shrewdly asked the assembled reporters to consider if the suspect’s leftist manifesto reads any “different...from this almost assassin than what you read on social media and hear in various forums every single day” and, “if you’re being honest,” the answer is “[m]uch of the manifesto of the would be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily from so many.” .@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “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… pic.twitter.com/pBjAeqzdGH — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 As an example, she cited comments Thursday from ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel claiming to joke First Lady Melania Trump has the “glow of an expectant widow” as the “kind of...completely deranged” rhetoric that Americans “are consumer...night after night after night.” “The deranged lies and smears against the President, his family, his supporters have led crazy people to believe crazy things, and they are inspired to commit violence because of those words. It has to stop,” she continued before ending her opening remarks with a call to action for Congress to end its shutdown of Homeland Security, leaving key government workers without pay. Sitting in the “new media seat,” One America News White House correspondent Daniel Baldwin asked Leavitt to share more with “the millions of Americans who wake up here today nervous, uneasy about the safety of the President at events like this and safety of their cabinet members” .@OANN’s @Baldwin_Daniel_ was today’s “new media seat” recipient at the White House press briefing, @KarolineLeavitt’s final before maternity leave Baldwin: “The President, Saturday after the assassination attempt, came here, he emphasized that law enforcement did their job in… pic.twitter.com/AcAEE4WS19 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Leavitt replied in part everyone “understand[s] their fears and their worries,” but Trump “continues to have trust in the United States Secret Service...who are doing their jobs and performing their honor, their — their duties honorably.” Baldwin also wanted to know from Leavitt why she chose to hold Monday’s briefing even though she had said on Friday she’d be leaving on maternity leave to have her second child this week: .@OANN’s @Baldwin_Daniel_: “And, Karoline, on Friday, you said that you thought that that gaggle out of the sticks would be your last one before your baby. Back in 2024, when the President had the attempt on his life in Butler, you cut your maternity leave short back then. You're… pic.twitter.com/HDGoeb2FwS — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Fox’s Aisha Hasnie was next and spoke with the needed moral clarity most of the other journalists have decided to lack in both-sidesing or excusing dangerous rhetoric toward the President and his supporters: Just from the rhetoric, you mentioned the First Lady and Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel’s comments were, Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. And he said this days before the shooting. But there does seem to be a normalization of rhetoric about assassinating this particular President. How can this administration try to put an end to this? Leavitt reiterated Trump’s call for Americans “to recommit ourselves as a country to toning down the rhetoric and to unifying” and it especially applies to those who have “a voice and a platform across this country...and when you have mentally disturbed individuals across the country who are listening to this crazed rhetoric about the President, day after day after day, it inspires them to do crazy things.” Fox’s @AishahHasnie: “Just from the rhetoric, you mentioned the First Lady and Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel's comments were, Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. And he said this days before the shooting. But there does seem to be a normalization of rhetoric about… pic.twitter.com/WbU1LqaKKE — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Leavitt then slammed the elite media’s enabling of this rhetoric that exists far beyond the Bluesky Brigade: [I]t’s not just the media. It is the entire Democrat Party has made their pitch to voters across the country that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist, and that they compare him to Hitler. I mean, these are despicable statements that the American people have been consuming for years, and so many mentally perturbed individuals are led to believe these words are truth and then are inspired to act on it.” Leavitt backed the proverbial truck up and unloaded a whole host of examples (click “expand”): I have a whole host of examples that we can share with you after. It is pages and pages of major Democrat Party elected officials saying such as Rep. Hakeem Jeffries just this April this month said, “we are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere, all the time.” Governor Josh Shapiro said “heads need to roll within the administration.” Senator Alex Padilla said “people are dying because of fear and terror caused by the Trump administration.” Senator Elizabeth Warren: “President Trump is making the country look like a fascist state.” Senator Adam Schiff saying President Trump ‘using a dictator playbook.’ Senator Ed Markey calling President Trump “a dictator,” saying that “this administration’s actions are authoritarianism on steroids.” Governor JB Pritzker: “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, disruptions. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. You have Rep. Pressley saying, “We’ll see you in the streets.” Rep. LaMonica McIver, a Democrat representative on Capitol Hill: “We will not take this from shit from Donald Trump. He thinks he’s a dictator. We are at war.” These are Democrat elected officials calling for war against the President of the United States and his supporters. I could go on and on. But again, when you have people in positions of power that are saying things like this every single day for years, you are inspiring violence by people who are already mentally ill. And that’s what we’ve seen against this President for far too long. Hasnie had a follow-up about where to go from here and thwarting such rhetoric. Leavitt largely demurred to the Justice Department: Fox’s @AishahHasnie: “[What part] of this is disinformation and misinformation online? There will be bite sized clips that will go viral to the point where there are Americans in this country that believe that what happened Saturday night was staged. How does this White House… pic.twitter.com/jWMtVuUvGO — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 Later on in the Q&A, Hasnie’s Fox colleague Edward Lawrence questioned whether Saturday’s attack — which would be at least the third Trump assassination attempt — lead the President to reconsider what “type of events” he “goes to.” Leavitt made clear the President wouldn’t be deterred in meeting Americans where they are: Fox Business’s @EdwardLawrence: “Three assassination attempts in three years. Is this going to change the type of events that the President goes to?”@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “Well, again, that’s going to be part of the conversations moving forward. But as you heard from… pic.twitter.com/BteZKluPxJ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 A few reporters later, Leavitt ended on a hopeful note in response to a question from EWTN’s Owen Jensen about what she believes Trump’s “message”would be to those people who — who experienced that terrible trauma and maybe are still fearful today”: EWTN’s @OwenTJensen: “People were forced to dive under tables and fearing for their lives on Saturday night, including many of the people in this room, myself included. What is the President’s message to those people who — who experienced that terrible trauma and maybe are still… pic.twitter.com/mQQw4ALEL3 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026 To see the relevant transcript from the April 27 briefing, click here.

We're almost to the end of April, and the liberals at PolitiFact have still not found one single Democrat utterance that is tagged "Mostly False" or worse in 2026. Instead, they're rushing to defense of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the aftermath of the Correspondents Dinner shooting. Amy Sherman's article on Monday was headlined:  Hakeem Jeffries ‘maximum warfare’ comment was about redistricting, not a call to violence None of the conservatives who raised the Jeffries use of "maximum warfare" were punished on the "Truth-O-Meter," but Sherman made a list of "out of context" quotes:  "I heard Hakeem Jeffries say this week ‘its maximum warfare all the time,’" CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings said April 26.  "We have a violent streak on the left and a rhetoric problem on the left." The Republican National Committee responded on X to Jeffries condemning political violence on a Sunday political show, sharing a clip of his "maximum warfare" remark and asking if he will "apologize and condemn this type of violent rhetoric."  Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Randy Fine of Florida also criticized Jeffries’ comment, while Tim Young, a conservative pundit, said Jeffries "caused" this. While Jeffries used those words, the soundbite lacks larger context. Jeffries talked about "maximum warfare" -- complete with a huge graphic -- in relation to the redistricting battles in blue states and red states. Sherman quoted the Democrat leader:  "We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time. And we are going to keep the pressure on Republicans at every single state in the union, to ensure at the end of the day, that there is a fair, national map. Because we believe that it is the people who should decide who is in the majority in the next Congress. Not Donald Trump and MAGA extremists." Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries called for “maximum warfare” related to redistricting in Virginia. Some Republicans used his words out of context, linking them to the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel shooting.https://t.co/lp0JSo7alo — PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) April 27, 2026 Sherman seemed especially appalled because Jeffries apparently borrowed this terminology from an anonymous Trump adviser who spilled his "maximum warfare" line to The New York Times last year:  Jeffries repeated the Trump ally’s words verbatim in an April 21 X post, "Democrats defeated Donald Trump’s gerrymandering scheme in Virginia tonight. We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next. Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time." Jeffries used the phrase in the title of a YouTube video April 21 celebrating the Virginia redistricting outcome. Sherman and her colleagues couldn't find anything False in Jeffries going on TV and laughably claiming "Democrats are going to push back aggressively to make sure that we have fair maps across the country, not partisan gerrymandering."