MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Monday strongly criticized the decision to hold the White House Correspondents' Dinner at a hotel, calling it an "extraordinarily stupid" idea due to security risks. His comments came in response to a shooting incident at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, which occurred while President Donald Trump and several administration officials were attending the event.
Shooting Incident Raises Security Concerns
According to reports, a gunman rushed toward the ballroom and shot a Secret Service agent, who was protected by his bulletproof vest, before being apprehended. Multiple officers quickly converged on the ballroom to secure the president and other attendees. The suspect's ability to move through the hotel with weapons while the president was nearby has raised serious questions about the safety protocols in place.
Scarborough expressed his disbelief on his show "Morning Joe," stating, "It just seems extraordinarily stupid to use an open hotel and get State of the Union-type concentration of power in the United States, especially at a time of war against a country that's been the epicenter of terrorism since 1979, and have them walking around, going in and out of parties, standing to get their pictures taken before they go in."
Co-host Mika Brzezinski Weighs In
Scarborough's co-host, Mika Brzezinski, agreed, noting that the responsibility lies with the Trump administration for allowing such a concentration of high-ranking officials in one place during a time of conflict. Scarborough added that the event should never be held in a hotel again.
"Anybody that has been there understands you aren't securing the entire hotel. You're not checking people's bags," he said. "You're not doing the basic things that would be done, like, at the State of the Union address."
Criticism of MAGA Supporters' Coordinated Posts
Scarborough also took a moment to criticize supporters of Trump's MAGA movement, who he said almost simultaneously launched posts supporting the president's presence in the ballroom, as if following a coordinated directive from the White House or press office. He called the Washington Hilton "the dumbest place" for such an event, despite its historical significance.
"I know it's history, but history be damned when you're putting your secretary of defense, you're putting your FBI director, you're putting the secretary of treasury, putting the vice president, you're putting the president," Scarborough said, before Brzezinski interjected, emphasizing that the administration was at fault for the security lapse.
Security Designation Questioned
The shooter, who reportedly expressed hatred for the Trump administration and called himself a "friendly federal assassin," bragged about the lack of security before the alleged attack. The Washington Post reported that the administration designated the event as a lower-level threat, despite the presence of Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and numerous Cabinet officials.
The responsibility for formally labeling a gathering as a "National Special Security Event," which places the Secret Service fully in charge, falls on the homeland security secretary. Markwayne Mullin recently replaced Kristi Noem in that position, and questions are being raised about the decision-making process that led to the lower threat level designation.
