A Secret Service agent gestures as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Some conservatives are blaming the Secret Service for the seeming attempted assassination of President Donald Trump on Saturday — but one Wall Street Journal columnist is not having any of it.
“One conservative called the Secret Service’s handling of security an ‘unmitigated failure,’” wrote The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn on Monday, who also reported on how mainstream media outlets like The Washington Post covered the story. “Others complain about ‘lax security.’ The Washington Post reported that ‘the Trump administration provided a lower level of security for the White House correspondents’ dinner than it has for other gatherings of high-ranking officials.’ Attendees have reported being waved in to the building with barely a showing of their ticket—though the security perimeter around the ballroom held.”
He added, “The second-guessing has only begun, and it’s becoming wrapped up with other issues. On his X account, Chairman James Comer of the House Oversight Committee noted that the Department of Homeland Security, ‘including Secret Service, has been unfunded for more than 70 days now.’
Yet as McGurn explained, the Secret Service actually did an exceptional job during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“On Saturday night, [suspect Cole Allen] did manage to run through the security checkpoint and past Secret Service agents,” McGurn wrote. “Even so, within seconds agents fired at Mr. Allen and subdued him—eliminating the threat. One agent was shot in the chest during the gunfire but, fortunately, was wearing a ballistic vest. After a short stint at a hospital he was released.”
He also noted that the Secret Service managed to successfully bring the president and first lady to safety, and that no one died or was seriously injured.
“When I worked in President George W. Bush’s White House, I gained, as most everyone did, a special appreciation for the professionalism of the Secret Service,” McGurn said. “Karl Rove was a colleague, and on ‘Fox News Sunday’ this weekend he suggested that although we all have questions that must be answered, in the aftermath of an assassination attempt that was thwarted, we should be celebrating these agents.” McGurn then quoted Rove.
“It worked last night,” Rove argued. “Let’s be honest about it. Somebody attempted to kill people and he was stopped. And he was stopped by the courageous act of Secret Service agents—one of whom took apparently a shotgun blast to the chest.”
In addition to blaming the Secret Service, many conservatives have blamed criticisms of Trump for the supposed assassination attempt. Yet according to Steve Schmidt, an ex-adviser to Republican President George W. Bush, Trump himself has employed violent rhetoric which contributed to the overall environment of violence.
“This isn’t normal,” Schmidt said on Sunday. “It isn’t random. And no matter how loudly the MAGA movement insists, it isn’t the fault of Donald Trump’s critics. The argument that criticism of Donald Trump somehow incites violence against him isn’t just wrong. It’s an inversion of reality so brazen that it demands to be confronted directly.”
He added, “Because over the last decade, no figure in American life has done more to normalize violent rhetoric than Donald Trump.”