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Erika Kirk calls WHCA dinner shooting ‘another traumatic example of the evil in our country’

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by Max Rego - 04/27/26 9:55 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/27/26 9:55 PM ET

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Erika Kirk on Monday lamented the shooting in the vicinity of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend as another instance of “political violence” in the U.S.

“Saturday was yet another traumatic example of the evil in our country and the continued rise in political violence. I’m taking time to spend with my family,” Kirk, who was in attendance at the event, wrote on the social platform X.

Kirk is the widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot last September at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Tyler Robinson, the man that prosecutors allege shot Kirk, has not entered pleas for the charges he faces — including aggravated murder.

Erika Kirk said Monday that she will join her late husband’s eponymous show, now hosted by former executive producer Andrew Kolvet, on Wednesday at 12 p.m. EDT to “briefly address” Saturday’s incident.

“Enough is enough,” she added.

Roughly 30 minutes into the annual dinner, an armed man charged through a security checkpoint one floor above the ballroom where President Trump, administration officials, members of Congress and journalists were gathered. The president shared a video to his Truth Social platform of the man running past law enforcement officers, who then drew their weapons in his direction.

The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Allen, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate Trump, transporting a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Video captured by CNN anchor Sara Sidner shows Erika Kirk departing the event in tears, saying, “I just want to go home.”

Saturday’s incident was the latest in a string of recent acts of political violence in the U.S., including the assassination of Kirk, Trump getting shot in the ear in an assassination attempt in July 2024 and a gunman killing Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, Mark Hortman, last July.

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