A Secret Service agent took a bullet to the chest Saturday night protecting a president his own government refused to pay.
The agent survived because of a bulletproof vest – the same agent Democrats left without a paycheck when they shut down the Department of Homeland Security two months ago.
And the man who pulled the trigger had a manifesto, a target list ranking administration officials by rank, and months of Democrat rhetoric telling him the people in that ballroom were Nazis.
Raskin Plays Dumb While the Body Count Almost Climbed
When CNN's Dana Bash asked Raskin directly whether Democrat rhetoric against President Trump might bear some responsibility for inspiring men like Cole Allen, he shrugged and asked what rhetoric she meant.
"What rhetoric do you have in mind," Raskin said.
Bash pressed him – noting that Democrats have called Trump terrible for the country and asked whether that created a responsibility.
"I have no personal problem with Donald Trump," Raskin replied.
That is a lie, and the receipts are easy to find.
Just last December, Raskin invoked the Southern Poverty Law Center on the House floor and accused Trump of wanting to "undermine civil society organizations" that defend against what he called the "virus of racial violence" spreading across the country.
That is not a policy disagreement.
That is telling unstable men that the President of the United States is dismantling the last line of defense against violent white supremacy in America.
The Democrats Built the Tinder and Then Acted Shocked When It Caught Fire
Allen's sister told law enforcement her brother had "a tendency to make radical statements" and had spoken for months about doing "something" to fix the problems he saw in today's world.
His manifesto named administration officials as targets, ranked by rank.
He wrote that he experiences "rage" thinking about what this administration has done.
Where does a 31-year-old California leftist get that kind of rage?
He gets it from Hakeem Jeffries, who four days before the shooting called for "maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time" against President Trump.
The RNC called it out immediately – telling Jeffries that his "disgusting rhetoric is inciting violence."
Democrats did not care.
They never care.
Tim Walz spent the better part of a year calling ICE "Donald Trump's modern-day Gestapo" – framing federal law enforcement as Nazi secret police dragging innocent people to torture dungeons.
Dozens of House Democrats joined him.
Rep. John Larson called ICE "the SS." Rep. Robin Kelly called ICE "the Gestapo." Rep. Rashida Tlaib said ICE was turning America into "a fascist police state." Rep. LaMonica McIver told crowds they were "at war."
The White House documented 57 separate instances of Democrats branding law enforcement heroes as Nazis, terrorists, and Gestapo thugs – and that list was published in January, months before Saturday night's attack.
When you spend a year telling volatile people that the President is Hitler and his agents are the Gestapo, you do not get to act confused when a volatile person shows up with a shotgun to stop the Gestapo.
This Is a Pattern Democrats Refuse to Break
This is not the first time Democrat rhetoric has preceded political violence against Republicans.
The connection between inflammatory language and radicalized violence is the pattern Democrats built and refuse to acknowledge.
Jeanine Pirro – now U.S. Attorney for D.C. – announced charges against Allen Saturday night, saying it was clear he "was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could."
Secret Service agents got him first.
One agent took a round to the chest and survived because of a bulletproof vest.
And while that agent was fighting for his life, Raskin was on CNN pretending he could not think of any heated rhetoric his party had used.
The Secret Service is not being paid right now.
Democrats voted to shut down the Department of Homeland Security two months ago – the same department that funds the agents who kept Trump, Vance, Melania, and dozens of officials alive Saturday night.
Trump said it plainly Sunday morning: "These were strong, solid people who got to get paid."
He is right.
And the party that defunded those heroes while spending a year calling their colleagues Nazis does not get to stand on CNN and ask what rhetoric we are talking about.
They know exactly what rhetoric we are talking about.
Sources:
- Amy Curtis, "Jamie Raskin Is Unaware of the Heated Rhetoric From Democrats. Let's Remind Him.," Townhall, April 26, 2026.
- "Suspect in White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Identified as Cole Tomas Allen," NBC News, April 26, 2026.
- "White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Suspect Cole Tomas Allen," CBS News, April 26, 2026.
- "Live Updates: White House Says Suspect Wanted to Target Trump Officials," Fox News Digital, April 26, 2026.
- "57 Times Sick, Unhinged Democrats Declared War on Law Enforcement," The White House, January 9, 2026.
- Hakeem Jeffries, "Maximum Warfare, Everywhere, All the Time," Florida Politics, April 22, 2026.
- "Democrats Renew Trump-Hitler Comparisons, Call ICE 'Gestapo'," San, September 18, 2025.
