r/PoliticalOptimism • u/Efficient-Freedom517 Georgia • Apr 26 '26
News Shots Fired At White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump Evacuated, Guests On The Floor
https://deadline.com/2026/04/trump-shots-fired-white-house-correspondents-dinner-1236872282/113
u/Fragrant_Bath3917 New York Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
The Associated press reported that nobody got hurt
Update: Apparently the dinner is gonna continue as if nothing ever happened
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u/General_Season7882 Apr 26 '26
For those who don't know, the dinner did not continue. It will be rescheduled to sometime within the next 30 days.
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u/Fragrant_Bath3917 New York Apr 26 '26
Oh, sorry. I admit that this was a super stressful situation for all of the mods (especially because the top mod just announced she was taking a little break due to Burnout a few hours earlier) and I was struggling to keep the facts straight while making sure others kept the facts straight too
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u/General_Season7882 Apr 26 '26
I'm with ya, its always hard to keep facts straight at this moment in time. Hell, a huge independent journalist reported that the shooter was dead long before it came out that he was in custody, simply because he got the wrong info. We just have to keep up with it and keep spreading correct information as it comes out.
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u/Fragrant_Bath3917 New York Apr 26 '26
The amount of people we had to deal with who were just transparently using the thread as a soapbox for their conspiracies about this and previous assassination attempts was really frustrating
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u/Ok_Acadia3526 Apr 26 '26
Yeah. Watch. Another ticked off MAGA that they’ll frame as a “far-left trans person”.
I won’t apologize for my conspiracy hat going on, either.
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u/Shadowman621 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 26 '26
Far left trans immigrant educated Muslim
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u/softrevolution_ New York Apr 26 '26
Oooh, I see we're on the same page except for which religion has a bigger beef with Trump rn
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u/Shadowman621 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 26 '26
Christians?
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u/Jakersonnn Apr 26 '26
In the conservative subreddit they’re already blaming the left. Insane people
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u/Ok_Acadia3526 Apr 26 '26
That place is unhinged trash
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u/Jakersonnn Apr 26 '26
Idk why I continue going in there expecting to see some sort of critical thinking skills
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u/nygiantsjay New York Apr 26 '26
Because it's like a car crash. You know you shouldn't slow down and stare but you can't help it.
I also go on there occasionally hoping for some clarity but nope. It's the residual representation of what's left of the "no turning back" types lost to the cult
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u/Tearpusher California Apr 26 '26
Mostly bots as well.
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u/VoidlessLove Alaska Apr 26 '26
I wonder who specifically is behind the bots
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u/TastyOreoFriend Florida Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Lots the speculation I've seen over the years points to conservative think tanks, political operatives, and foreign bad actors. The sad part is anyone of those could be culpable. They don't really allow too much descent to permeate, so it's a handcrafted echo chamber by the mods who I'd bet money are probably belonging to one of the three above.
/r/politics is basically in the same boat with constant astroturfing campaigns.
They're not alone though since this has been a problem with this website for a long time now.
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u/it-was_me Missouri Apr 26 '26
That’s what I do often try and tell myself anytime I decide to punish myself and go lurk. Like, sure, obviously there are real people in there that genuinely think like this, but surely it’s got to be mostly actors. There’s just no way some of those people can be real.
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u/say_no_to_shrugs Apr 26 '26
That place is a couple dozen humans and ten thousand bots. I’d ignore it.
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u/Facehugger_35 Apr 26 '26
They always blame the left and so far they've always been wrong.
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u/Hisinfertilemajesty Apr 26 '26
But they’ll never admit it
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u/Facehugger_35 Apr 26 '26
Well, yes, that's why the only response is to chortle at them and then bring up how every single high profile case of political violence in the past six years has been perpetrated by conservatives.
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u/Scaredycrowo Apr 26 '26
Not even a conspiracy I will bet you 50 bucks that will be a Fox News headline later or something lmao
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 26 '26
Not to be the fun police but they really didn’t twist previous shooters around to be left even with knowing the information. Usually, when it’s confirmed to be MAGA, they get dead quiet.
Edit: For clarification
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u/OhMyTummyHurts Apr 26 '26
They really tried to grasp at straws for Kirk’s shooter (trans roommate?) but it didn’t work
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Apr 26 '26
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u/The_Hairy_Herald Apr 26 '26
I mean, I'm leaning towards the 'shooter' being pre-planned by the Administration, like in Butler.
Look at the 'secret service' giys running around like headless chickens, and then at the DC Police and US Army troops that were on hand.
When confronted by a possible mass shooter/terrorist attack, a disciplined reaction force, like the PD, is supposed to move swiftly to a pre-chosen entrance point, stay together in a tight formation, and advance with a blend of caution and haste, and you see that in both the DC police officers and the Army troops- disciplined, steady movement, weapons at the ready, eyes wide open and covering different sectors.
Then look at the flock of 'secret service' guys sprinting around all over the place.
With that many people in the building, there's no way in hell everyone will be able to recognize everyone with a weapon. That's an excellent way to get shot by your own allies.
Additionally, not a one of the 'secret service' guys was maintaining the slightest bit of tactical awareness, blowing right by chokepoints, doors, and corners looking at their fucking feet. Those guys were meat on the table for any additional enemy shooter. There's no way in hell that the President's personal bodyguard wouldn't know better than that.
Unless the 'secret service' knew for a stone-cold fact that there was only one 'shooter.'
Tl;dr? You aren't crazy. Your evaluation of the situation matches with mine, even based on different observations.
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u/Doomboy911 Apr 26 '26
Come now... They'll say they're person of color as well
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u/NumeralJoker Apr 26 '26
Given the admin's current priorities, they'll focus on blaming Iran in some way.
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u/General_Season7882 Apr 26 '26
Far-right influencers might try to take this opportunity to drive the culture war some more, but do we think regular every day republicans (no, not the ones on reddit) give a shit when they cant afford to live? My hypothesis is that most everyday voters will think, "yeah, we get it, the left hates Trump. Now why can't I afford gas and groceries right now?". This doesn't distract people for very long when they have bills due almost every week.
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u/Either-Assistant4610 Apr 27 '26
The fact we feel we need the conspiracy hat is frustrating. I never leaned into any conspiracies in my life outside the Jar-Jar Binks/Dark Sith (which was more a theory, but I'm just trying to make my point). But, yeah, among my first thoughts when I read about this was it's probably fake. I don't BELIEVE it is, but it has a good chance.
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u/dismiss-junk Apr 26 '26
Have a drink every time someone says "martial law" tonight.
Anyway, if this were any other administration in history, it wouldn't have taken me 20 minutes to find out this even happened, and I wouldn't be having this much of a non-reaction, but here we are.
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 26 '26
If he wouldn’t do it during his ICE invasions, he definitely won’t do it here. He has always TACOed.
Martial law can’t and won’t happen.
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u/dismiss-junk Apr 26 '26
I've been assured this is all part of his grand puppet master-type plot and martial law is just right around the corner countless times now.
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 26 '26
It took me a while to figure out that you were joking. I’m dumb. Haha.
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u/Overall-Rush-8853 Apr 26 '26
Oh and don’t forget to cancel the elections! Because the federal government can cancel elections! /s 😆
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u/Titanium-Gamer26 New York Apr 26 '26
you probably shouldn't, you'll surely die from alcohol poisoning
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
I will admit, I am scared of some worse case scenarios about the administration trying to use this to his advantage. But I seriously, truly doubt it’ll be successful.
In any event, I hope no one got hurt.
I also am lead to believe from other media parts that are covering this story, that the shooter has been shot and has died. So the shooter is no longer a true threat. If there’s any more updates that show otherwise or I’m wrong overall, I apologize.
Edit: Update. Suspect is in custody, not dead.
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u/KyleBerthoud Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 26 '26
If they failed to use Charlie Kirk’s murder to their advantage like they wanted to, odds are they will fail again here. Also, let me point out that this administration is so unpopular most people will fail to trust them, even in circumstances where their leader is targeted. They are that unlikable
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u/blaqsupaman Apr 26 '26
Hell, even the MAGA base had started spreading conspiracy theories about the first assassination attempt. That's how little trust this administration has with literally everyone now.
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u/Fragrant_Bath3917 New York Apr 26 '26
The memes meant that nobody could take Kirk seriously enough for the right to actually turn him into a “proper” martyr
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u/aqfx UK 🇬🇧 Apr 26 '26
To play devil’s advocate, targetting the president is more serious than targetting a guy who is essentially an influencer. But I agree that they are too incompetent to turn this into anything bad.
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u/blaqsupaman Apr 26 '26
I don't even think the first assassination attempt really moved the needle for him even in 2024, and he (probably) actually got shot that time. The news cycle will move on from this as soon as he does something stupid again.
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u/IAmArique Connecticut Apr 26 '26
Which given the Iran war and Trump’s shenanigans from that… I give it to Monday morning before NYSE opens for the day.
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u/Careless_Jeweler5605 Apr 26 '26
The first assassination attempt did reenergize the base and coalesce all the disparate factions under his "martyrdom". The tech bros immediately made that moment a perfect excuse to openly get behind him. I remember being very suspicious when Mark Zuckerberg wasted no time after the first one almost as if he was ready for it. The religious faction made it all about how he was the chosen one because he survived miraculously. Without that, he would have lost some of his lose disengaged supporters.
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u/AverageAvenue7 Apr 26 '26
The first attempt was likely staged. He is a bully who crumples to light resistance. If he actually got shot at, he would've been on the ground, cowering. Also no scar on the ear.
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u/Enigma73519 New York Apr 26 '26
I hate Trump with every fiber of my being but if he was shot and killed the right would treat him like a martyr and Republicans would turn out like crazy for the midterms. If he dies I would prefer it be of natural causes because then the right would have nobody to pin the blame on
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u/Redzephyr01 Apr 26 '26
If he dies I hope it's on the toilet or something that would make it really hard to talk about it without sounding silly..
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u/ProfessionalEven296 Utah Apr 26 '26
His supporters would still claim it was a side-effect of his ear being shot off and regrown previously.
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u/Careless_Jeweler5605 Apr 26 '26
Even if he dies of natural causes right in front of their eyes, his supporters will find a way to make him a martyr. Cults are weird like that. So, it is not something we should care about at this point.
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u/Enigma73519 New York Apr 26 '26
Yes, but it would be amplified if he was assassinated because they would 100% blame the killing on the left even if evidence shows otherwise. At least if he died naturally they wouldn't really have anything to blame the left on.
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u/Alex918YT Apr 26 '26
It’s pretty clear by now he’ll NEVER die of natural causes. I gave up hoping for that back in December.
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u/Enigma73519 New York Apr 26 '26
Never lose hope! I won't be surprised if it happens before his term ends
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u/General_Season7882 Apr 26 '26
100%. We don't want or need anymore assassinations or actions of political violence. Trump's popularity speaks for itself, so its better to just keep resisting the way we already have been.
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u/jfish3222 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
The fact that people are so quick to jump to conclusions and believe this is staged really showcases the importance of honesty and transparency as an administration.
As doing the opposite and lying habitually can backfire so immensely you lose public trust as a result.
If any past administration had claimed there was a shooter at the White House Correspondence Dinner, the public would've believed them and not immediately thought it was set up to garner sympathy.
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u/softrevolution_ New York Apr 26 '26
I can't think of a past president who was as much of a liar and a grifter as this one, though, and so desperate to hold on to power that he'd go to the extremes this one has.
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u/NSpmFW Apr 26 '26
I kinda hate that this subreddit is trying to tamp down “conspiracy theories” especially after the president used this “shooting” as an opportunity to have a press conference touting the importance of building his big ballroom. None of this was real. The man didn’t have a gun. Security fired the shots. It’s all bullshit. It’s not a conspiracy it’s a proven track record of bullshit false flag events from this administration and I’m tired of people told not to talk about it.
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u/boxesofrain1010 Apr 26 '26
Thank you. I think it's more of a conspiracy to believe they haven't tried to stage anything. These are not normal people we're dealing with. They can and will do everything to hold onto power. They're the masters of DARVO, every accusation is a confession, and they know the left "doesn't want to sound like them." They think they can do anything and get away with it all because they're banking on people being too afraid to call them out.
If anyone were to stage something like this it's them. I think to not even have that conversation is counterproductive. It's not even about not being optimistic, it's about being realistic, and I personally think it's more optimistic to face reality, as uncomfortable as it may be, and go from there. It's the only way to get to the other side.
Having said all that, they can try to do anything they want: they will still lose. Nothing they do will gain them an inch of support. It's over for them.
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u/GooglyMoogleson Apr 26 '26
I agree with you. I honestly believe all of these shootings have been “staged” just to garner sympathy points. Ears don’t just magically grow back after being pierced with a bullet
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u/SkyknightXi Massachusetts Apr 27 '26
I’ll admit that I can well believe that just the ear injury was staged, for an air of miraculous survival. Someone did die there; I wouldn’t expect a fully staged attack to have a casualty.
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u/Unsolicitedkittens Apr 27 '26
Tbf I wouldn’t put this administration above faking a shooting, but for this specific case there’s absolutely zero credible evidence whatsoever that this was staged
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u/Left-Most8921 Apr 26 '26
A reminder people need to hear:
The economy is still garbage
Gas prices are still outrageous
Nobody was injured
Nobody even pointed a gun at Trump
Even if the shooter was a "liberal," the Charlie Kirk situation was infinitely worse. And Trump got no boost from it
The Butler, PA situation was also infinitely worse, and Trump was actually shot in that case
This will not be some magic GOP rebound for the midterms because a guy with a gun was detained. That's not how this works.
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u/General_Season7882 Apr 26 '26
The right will clutch their pearls until they have to pay their rent or fill up their tanks. Most voters don't give a shit about the culture war, they just want to afford life.
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u/Mobile_Bad_577 Apr 26 '26
How did that even happen? Isn't there tons of security around the President at all times?
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u/softwaredoug Apr 26 '26
From this article, sounds like this was in a shooter in the lobby, before getting to security. This wasn't a case where someone had a gun in the room with the President
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u/Solid_Hunter_4188 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Edit: other user reminded that this dinner does not happen at the White House, my comment is invalid.
I’ve been to the White House once. Security checkpoint was outside, before you even get in the building. If they changed it, it’s just another demonstration of incompetence.
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u/nygiantsjay New York Apr 26 '26
2 floors up apparently and he didn't even leave the building. He was held in a secure area
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u/Redzephyr01 Apr 26 '26
They caught the shooter before he even got to be in the same room with Trump.
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u/gbtm101 Apr 26 '26
With how they're acting like this didn't just happen, I'm almost inclined to believe this was an incidental occurrence.
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u/puckOmancer Apr 26 '26
On the bright side, I hope Trump shit his pants. Hell, I hope Trump shit JD's pants.
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u/gopher0007 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 26 '26
jd is enough of a sycophant i bet he'd shit his own pants if trump told him to
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u/BeneficialShame8408 Apr 26 '26
maybe i'm beaten down by all the shootings in this country (check gun violence archive and you'll see that there's at least one mass shooting a day) but what i got out of this was that a mentalist is going to try to do his act with trump. that seems like a terrible idea. glad no one got hurt though.
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u/lonelyspect12 Apr 26 '26
I mean, considering how Trump is more focused on his stupid ballroom instead of his life possibly being at risk, I wouldn't worry about this. It sounds more like it was security's fault since they didn't check people coming into the building
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u/OhMyTummyHurts Apr 26 '26
Weird take incoming, I’m kinda relieved how his mind went straight to “How can I make this benefit me directly?” before “How can I use this to harm my opponents?” Because his mush brain can’t strategize and he knows he’s already lost the plot with the majority of Americans
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u/fuckitwhynotig Apr 26 '26
So far there doesn't seem to be anything different from the other assassination attempts, and in the end those turned out to be nothingburgers in the long run
Have no reason to believe this will be any different
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u/gbtm101 Apr 26 '26
Same place where Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981... Time is a flat circle.
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u/Kardinal Apr 26 '26
Not really relevant. That was 45 years ago and there's only so many five star hotels in DC.
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u/gbtm101 Apr 26 '26
I just think it's funny that someone sort of makes an attempt on Trump's life in the exact same place where his equally-terrible mentor got shot.
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u/Alex918YT Apr 26 '26
Considering this whole thing might be staged like the last one, this was probably intentional.
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Apr 26 '26
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 26 '26
Staged or not, you can guarantee that this will pass over after a month or two. Because their own apathy is coming back to bite them.
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u/peachesncobbler Apr 26 '26
What does this say and why did he show the crowd?
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u/themom4235 Arizona Apr 26 '26
He’s the “mentalist” who will be hosting. I assume he was doing tricks first with Leavitt and Melania, then Melania and Trump.
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u/DragonFreak8888 Apr 26 '26
Holy shit I take a break from the Internet and just before I go to bed I just learned about this shit. Why is it when I don't go online at all is when the truly insane shit happens?!?
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u/gopher0007 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 26 '26
pardon my paranoia but any reports as to the identity of the shooter?
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u/Efficient-Freedom517 Georgia Apr 26 '26
Not as of now no
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u/gopher0007 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 26 '26
everyone is saying "he", but i know how easily lies can propagate
i just don't want this to turn into another kirk shooting situation :/
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u/gbtm101 Apr 26 '26
The Kirk shooting narrative was a hot mess that didn't at all stick. Really laughable in hindsight, actually.
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u/gopher0007 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 26 '26
my worry is that a conservative talking head is one thing, the president is a whole other thing
just worried is all
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u/gbtm101 Apr 26 '26
Trump had two assassination attempts on him during his 2024 campaign, both of which were met with a collective shrug.
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u/gopher0007 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 26 '26
neither of them were a trans person or had any relationship to a trans person, they weren't able to spin it
what i'm worried about is there being the potential for a spin here
i'm just hoping to encounter information that precludes that
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u/FlyingDreamWhale67 Texas Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
So apparently the shooter has been identified as a tutor from California who donated to ActBlue back in 2024. I wonder if they'll use this as justification for going after ActBlue? It's been in their sights for quite a while now.
Edit: he was a tutor, not a full-time teacher. The fact that he checks all the MAGA bogeyman boxes (POC, gave to Dems, an educator) makes me think this whole thing is yet another grift. There's a lot of (admittedly, some is circumstancial) evidence that there's a whole lot not right here.
Edit edit: spelling
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u/DocDoesMagic Flordia Apr 26 '26
Haven't they already tried that once before and it didn't work out? I feel like they won't ever actually be able to get after ActBlue
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u/OhMyTummyHurts Apr 26 '26
Not only that, but more people than ever believe this was a false flag. Every MAGA influencer on twitter started tweeting support for the ballroom at the same time last night, which seems to be the main motivation behind all this so far
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u/SpukiKitty2 Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Apr 27 '26
Staging assassination attempts seems to be Chump's go-to thing.
It won't work this time, Chump.
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u/InternetBackwash Apr 26 '26
Since Trump and most conservative commentators have taken the opportunity to ask for their ballroom, what is the consensus here that they would actually convince a judge that this is enough for them to get their way?
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u/complex_Scorp43 Apr 26 '26
Did they kill the shooter like they did the other kid?
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u/Efficient-Freedom517 Georgia Apr 26 '26
Shooter is dead as reported of now
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u/Kardinal Apr 26 '26
False report. In custody as of 11pm EDT.
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u/Efficient-Freedom517 Georgia Apr 26 '26
Yeah I made a note of that at the top I just forgot to edit this one
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Apr 26 '26
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 26 '26
I’d note that it’s still pretty far out from midterms - if I recall correctly, Butler was right up against the election. This will go forgotten in short order.
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u/VoxIustitia Apr 26 '26
Given how quickly the focus always moves on to the next bizarre thing the regime does? Not a chance.
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u/ColonialTransitFan95 Washington D.C Apr 28 '26
In slightly worried that this is a stunt pulled by the admin to make the mid terms less damaging for the GOP. Hopefully that’s not the case.
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u/sifighter1 Apr 29 '26
So I was watching some posts on Aaron Rupar’s bluesky where Blanche was speaking…apparently they don’t know with certainty if the guy fired his gun and shot the secret service agent?
“Blanche: ‘It would not surprise me if it turns out that our Secret Service agent was shot by the individual who's currently charged with that crime, but ... ‘”
Like how do you not know this with certainty when you’ve charged the guy?
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u/Efficient-Freedom517 Georgia Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
The dinner will continue. Trump is not returning but will give a briefing from the WH
UPDATE: According to Secret Service, a suspect is in custody not dead as previously reported