Vice President JD Vance described his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night, where a shooter attempted to assassinate the president and other Cabinet officials.
“I’m sitting up there on the stage with some journalists and obviously with the president of the United States a few seats to my right, and there’s a lot of commotion. You kind of hear some loud noises,” he told Fox News’ Will Cain on Wednesday. “I had no idea what it was. And before I had any idea what was going on, I started seeing people sort of duck under their tables or respond to what was going on far in the back of the ballroom. And then an agent comes and whispers in my ear, basically says, sir, we have to leave.”
Vance said he heard an agent was shot and worried that the man was injured or worse. The agent was shielded by a bulletproof vest.
“The thing that I really gained an appreciation for is the amazing job the agents of the Secret Service do,” Vance said. “You saw they went right to me, they went right to the president of the United States. They put their lives in harm’s way.”
The suspected shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States. He also faces charges of transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Vance said he has gotten used to having a security detail over the past two years, but the incident renewed his appreciation.
“I just feel very grateful to them and very grateful for what they do, and frankly, grateful to God that that agent who was shot was not seriously hurt,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse, but the law enforcement did a great job well, and we should all be grateful for that.”
Vance called for an end to Americans inciting violence upon political opponents.
“The political violence right now is coming not exclusively, but largely from one side of the aisle,” he said. “The president has now faced three serious attempts on his life in just the past year and a half. Of course, Butler, Pennsylvania; there was a situation at Mar-a-Lago that the media didn’t really cover,” he said. “And then, of course, there was the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.”
“So I think really, it’s incumbent upon everybody, but particularly those who are driving some of the narratives that Donald Trump has somehow invited this violence upon himself, that killing your political opponents is somehow justified if you’re engaged in that kind of rhetoric,” he continued, “you need to check yourself.”
