Administration

Blanche challenges Obama’s framing of WHCD shooting: ‘Disappointing’

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by Steff Danielle Thomas - 05/02/26 1:44 PM ET

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by Steff Danielle Thomas - 05/02/26 1:44 PM ET

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Saturday blasted former President Obama’s response to the White House Correspondent’s Association (WHCA) dinner shooting last week as “disappointing.”

Obama, in a statement the day after the incident, urged Americans to reject political violence while suggesting the suspect’s motives were unclear.

“It’s pretty incredible that a leader, a former leader like President Obama would say that,” Blanche said in an interview on Fox News. “Actually, literally just … covering his eyes to what we know is happening.”

He added that the motivation is clear “just from the little bit” of evidence uncovered since the incident and “what’s charged in the complaint.”

“That is so disappointing to say that, when we know from just the little bit of evidence that we’ve done, even just what’s charged in the complaint, not the rest of the evidence that we’ve uncovered since then … We know why President Trump was allegedly targeted by this individual,” the acting attorney general told host Kayleigh McEnany.

The former president also condemned political violence in his response and shared his appreciation with the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) for their hard work.

“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting … it’s incumbent upon all of us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama wrote April 26 on social platform X.

“It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day,” he continued. “I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, was charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump. He also faces two other federal charges centered on his alleged effort to disrupt the annual black-tie event at the Washington Hilton and transportation of firearms. Allen has not entered a plea and agreed to remain detained ahead of the May 11 trial.

If convicted of attempting to assassinate the president, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

Other allies of Trump also spoke out against Obama’s characterization of the shooting.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded to the former president’s X post directly.

“It was politically motivated,” he wrote. “He made that pretty clear.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told Obama on X, “Let’s not pretend to be this clueless about motive.”

“The attempted assassin put out an anti-Trump manifesto about wanting to kill Trump Admin officials, minutes before trying to storm a ballroom filled with the President, VP, Cabinet, and many others from his Admin,” Zeldin added.

Conspiracy theories around the incident have cropped up in recent days. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on theories spread online suggesting the shooting was staged.

A Secret Service agent was shot during the exchange, but had on a bulletproof vest, according to the administration.

USSS and Trump have also brushed off suggestions that the officer was hit by “friendly fire.”

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