Is Anyone Responsible for the WHCD Shooting Other Than the Shooter Himself?

Donald Trump posts an image of the alleged shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, on Truth Social on April 25, 2026.As occurs with every act or attempted act of political violence in the U.S., many have attempted to blame the rhetoric of their political adversaries for “inspiring” or “provoking” violence through their words. In the case of the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, many Trump supporters are seeking to heap blame not only — or even principally — on the attacker whom President Trump described as a “lone wolf.” Instead, under a theory long used by liberals against the American Right, blame is being widely assigned to President Trump’s more vocal critics for allegedly “inspiring” violence against him. This theory alleges that by demonizing Trump with some of the worst accusations (saying he is a fascist, a Nazi, a white supremacist, a war criminal, etc.), liberals and other Trump critics are endangering his safety and implicitly, or…