President Donald Trump said that the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner proves why the country needs his ballroom in the White House, prompting scorn.
"Jesus Christ. He is using this as an excuse to hype his ballroom?" Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson wrote on X. "I just can't."
A shooter stormed a security checkpoint outside the ballroom hosting the dinner, forcing Trump and his party to evacuate the head table. During a press conference after the attack, Trump explained to reporters that the Washington Hilton would have been safer if it had a ballroom like the one he's installing at the White House.
"It's not a particularly secure building," Trump said. "I didn't want to say this, but this is why we have to have all the attributes of what we're planning at the White House. It's drone-proof. It's bulletproof. We need the ballroom. That's why the Secret Service, why the military, they're demanding it."
"Trump is using this to advocate for the ballroom right now," pundit Kyle Kulinski reacted. "Oh my word."
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote on X, "Trump, commenting on the incident at the Correspondents' Dinner today, says this demonstrates why the Ballroom he is building at the WH is needed."