Journalist Stephen A. Smith attends ESPN First Take at Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 8, 2024. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
Stephen A. Smith expected a routine night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The black tie event was anything but, as it turned into a moment of real fear.
The ESPN host was inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night when gunfire outside the event triggered panic throughout the room.
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President Donald Trump posted a photo on social media showing law enforcement detaining Cole Thomas Allen following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. (US President Trump via Truth Social/Anadolu/Getty Images)
A shotgun used by Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooting, is displayed before Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and others held a news conference at the Department of Justice on April 27, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc)
The deranged anti-Trump and anti-Christian gunman never made it into the ballroom and was stopped by security, but for several tense seconds, no one inside knew that.
On his YouTube show Monday, Smith described the chaos as guests scrambled to react without clear information.
“What scared the living hell out of everybody was that you thought at least for a few seconds that the room had been penetrated,” Smith said. “So all of us had to get down. We ducked under tables, ducked under chairs and all of that other stuff.”
Stephen A. Smith speaks on the shocking assassination attempt at White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
What should have been a unifying moment against political violence once again turned into political chicanery from the Left.
Smith also pushed back on conspiracy theories that quickly surfaced online in the aftermath.
“You’ve got a lot of conspiracy theorists out there claiming that this was all rigged,” he said. “Me personally, people can have their opinions, their conjecture or whatever, but it would be irresponsible for me or any journalist to jump to that conclusion. We’re not gonna do that.”
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At the same time, he pointed to a broader issue, the increasingly heated political climate surrounding moments like this.
“I’m sick and tired of us giving lip service to the narrative of dialing down the rhetoric. Enough of that. Stop talking about it and do it,” Smith said. “Let’s debate policy as opposed to engaging in name-calling and speaking about people in incendiary and derogatory fashion.”
The incident also raised a practical concern about the event itself …
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is held at a hotel, not on White House grounds.
Smith did not dismiss that criticism.
“A dead clock is right twice a day. The president has a point,” he said. “Stuff like this should be on the grounds of the White House. It shouldn’t be at some damn hotel in D.C. that just anybody could get into. It just shouldn’t.”
OutKick founder Clay Travis, who also attended the event, sounded the alarm about what he sees as ongoing security concerns.
On X, Travis wrote, “Assassination attempts four and five are coming. The Secret Service is not good enough at their jobs. We need better.”
Ultimately, the threat never reached the ballroom. But for a few moments, uncertainty took over, and that was enough. Because in a room filled with some of the most prominent figures in media and politics, no one knew if they were safe.
Send us your thoughts: [email protected] / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
