What to Know
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went viral on social media late Saturday after promising that there would be “shots fired” at the White House Correspondent’ Dinner.
Minutes later, shots were fired as a man raced past a security checkpoint at the event inside the Washington Hilton. Cole Allen of Torrance, California, was taken into custody after the incident, according to multiple reports.
Leavitt was very clearly joking and having fun when she made the comment.
“(Trump) is ready to rumble,” she told Fox News from the red carpet at the event. “I will tell you, this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump.”
“(The speech) will be funny,” she added. “It will be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room.”
You can see her comments here.
She clearly was unaware of the serious situation that was about to take place.
Still, social media could not ignore her comment after what happened.
“Karoline Leavitt at the White House Correspondents’ dinner prior to the shooting: ‘There will be some shots fired tonight,’” Power to the People wrote on X. “False flag confirmed.”
“WHAT THE (EXPLETIVE)?” CALL TO ACTVISM wrote on X. “Before the event began, Karoline Leavitt: ‘there will be shots fired tonight.’”
“First time in her life she told the truth,” Hoodlum wrote on X.
“The comment by Karoline Leavitt aged like fine wine,” Drew wrote on X.
“Karline Leavitt earlier tonight: ‘There will be shots fired,’” Mark Slapinksi wrote. “Someone actually tries to shoot Trump. The internet:”
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Brian Linder; pennlive.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
