(LifeSiteNews) — The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend was odd for a number of reasons, most notably because Vice President JD Vance was rushed off the stage by Secret Service before President Donald Trump was.

The annual dinner, which in years past was not held due to the acrimonious relationship between President Trump and the liberal media, was interrupted by gunfire outside the ballroom. More than 2,500 guests were present at the event, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Many on social media speculated that the event was a sort of false flag meant to garner support for Trump, who has been dropping in the polls following his war against Iran. Some pointed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s remarks as evidence it was a psyop.

“It’ll be funny. It’ll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room,” she jokingly told a reporter at the event.

LEAVITT: “There will be some shots fired tonight” pic.twitter.com/8OY57iCqh3

— DannyKPolitics (@DannyKPolitics) April 26, 2026

Others on social media theorized that a Fox News reporter was about to blow the lid off what really happened but was then cut off while on air.

Aishah Hasnie had called into Fox minutes after the shooting to explain what transpired. She said that Leavitt’s husband leaned over to her at the dinner table and told her to “be very safe” tonight. Hasnie then said that “he was very serious when he that said that to me, and he kinda looked around the room and he said, you know, ‘there are some…” and the phone call mysteriously cut out.

READ: Would-be Trump assassin wrote ‘chilling’ manifesto against the president

The anchor who was on-air at Fox said that cell phones sometimes drop when there are many people in the same area.

Fox’s Aishah Hasnie: Karoline Leavitt’s husband leaned over and told me right as the WH Correspondents Dinner was starting, “You need to be very safe.”

“He was very serious when that said that to me, and he kinda looked around the room and said, ‘There are some–’”

*Call drops* pic.twitter.com/Q4rjP6KXn8

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) April 26, 2026

In a post published at 1:34am on Sunday, Hasnie said that Leavitt’s husband told her to “be careful with my own safety because the world is crazy.”

Our calls were dropping, because there is barely any service in that ballroom. To finish the story, he was telling me to be careful with my own safety because the world is crazy. Which is what my own father and other people have also said to me recently. He was expressing his…

— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) April 26, 2026

Trump addressed theories that there was something nefarious about the evening as well. While speaking with 60 Minutes presenter Norah O’Donnell Sunday night, Trump was asked why Vance was removed from the dais “within seconds” but that it “took ten seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out.”

“I wanted to see what was happening,” Trump plainly stated. “And I wasn’t making it that easy for them [Secret Service]. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem.”

Trump later held a press conference updating the public on what took place. Government officials announced that the would-be gunman was Cole Tomas Allen and that he had issued a manifesto just before the attempted assassination stating that he is “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”