While criminals should always be held accountable for their own actions, it’s hard to argue that the multiple attempts on President Donald Trump’s life weren’t influenced at least in part by the steady drumbeat of ad hominem attacks on him from prominent members of the mainstream media. For S.E. Cupp, who was once purportedly a conservative commentator, CNN provided the forum for her diatribe against the president just a few minutes before the latest gunman apparently targeted Trump by opening fire at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Here’s the report from Fox News: “The Correspondents’ Association was trying to sort of mend some fences with a guy who wants us dead, figuratively. Figuratively, he wants journalism dead,” Cupp said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.” Cupp made the remarks about 20 minutes prior to the reported shooting during a panel discussion with CNN anchors John Berman and Laura Coates as the network previewed Trump’s arrival. The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner has historically celebrated press freedom while bringing together reporters and government officials, though Trump boycotted the event during his first term. Cupp said she was disappointed by how the evening had been arranged and the decision to feature Trump as the central speaker. Simply adding the word “figuratively” to her remarks doesn’t magically cancel out the rest of her politically charged rhetoric, which is why those on-air comments are received additional scrutiny as the world learns more about the apparent motive of the man accused of carrying out the shooting: Cole Allen wrote this in his manifesto: “I am no longer willing to permit a ped*phile, rap*st, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” This is what happens when the media knowingly falsely call Trump a r*pist pedo. Media incited this. They knew exactly what they were… pic.twitter.com/A5COwlbuvN — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 26, 2026 In his fake White House correspondents speech @JimmyKimmelLive actually joked about Trump’s assassination — just before a real assassin showed up at the real dinner. Hey @DisneyABCTV when the hell are you finally going to pull this vile person from the airwaves? pic.twitter.com/PG3iptGnZX — Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) April 26, 2026 One of Cupp’s colleagues, a rare voice of reason on the network, broke down the situation like this: I've been on the air live twice now when someone has tried to kill the President. I worry about President Trump every day. I worry about these events. The fact that DHS has been unfunded for 70 days in this environment is outrageous. Every American should be outraged by it. pic.twitter.com/sy9wO1K8QX — Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 26, 2026 USA Today provided additional details: In his interview on Fox News, President Donald Trump referenced the suspected gunman’s previous writings documented by law enforcement and alleged he was a “troubled guy” motivated by religious hatred. “The guy is a sick guy, when you read his manifesto,” Trump said. “He hates Christians, that’s one thing for sure. He hates Christians, a hatred.” The president also said the suspected shooter’s family went to law enforcement with concerns before the Saturday night incident. The FBI and other authorities have not publicly released information about the alleged shooter’s motives. Here’s the CNN clip featuring Cupp’s comments: How does that sound?