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White House calls out 3 Mass. pols in laying blame for WHCA dinner shooting
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for perpetuating a culture of violent rhetoric.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that rhetoric from prominent Democrats, including some from Massachusetts, was to blame for the shooting Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Speaking to members of the press, Leavitt cited remarks Sen. Elizabeth Warren made last year when she said that President Donald Trump was “making this nation look more and more like a fascist state.” Leavitt mentioned Sen. Ed Markey’s comments labeling Trump’s actions “authoritarianism on steroids,” and that Rep. Ayanna Pressley said “we’ll see you in the streets.”
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This rhetoric spurs unstable individuals to commit acts of violence, Leavitt said.
“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,” she said.
Officials said that a man armed with guns and knives charged through a security checkpoint outside the WHCA dinner Saturday, shooting a law enforcement officer who was wearing a bulletproof vest before being tackled by Secret Service agents.
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The alleged attacker is a California man who apparently wrote in a manifesto that he intended to target President Trump and high-ranking members of his cabinet. The alleged attacker is facing three federal charges related to the incident.
Markey responded to Leavitt’s comments on social media. He stood by his characterization of Trump as an authoritarian and criticized the conduct of federal immigration enforcement officials.
WHCA DINNER SHOOTING:
Spokespeople for Warren and Pressley did not immediately return requests for comment.
After the shooting, Pressley said on social media that she was “deeply relieved” that everyone at the dinner was safe. She condemned “violence in any form.”
Trump has a long and well-documented history of using violent and dehumanizing rhetoric himself. Just last month, he said that he was “glad” that former FBI Director Robert Mueller had died.
In the wake of the shooting, Trump also called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel because of a joke the late night host made last week.
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