Donald Trump is generally quite good about calling out the media when he thinks they have crossed the line.
Generally, he is not specific enough to convince anybody, but then again, the president really is in no position to give in-depth rebuttals to every accusation.
But neither the president nor his communications team hits various Democrats hard enough on their rhetoric. Trump is good at the insults, which helps with his base, but there is a good argument to be made that his communications team should get specific about calling out Democrats when they go way over the line.
I know the argument that you don't give airtime to your enemies when you don't have to, but Democrats have gotten plenty of airtime for their lies, and the media almost never calls them out.
Well, Karoline Leavitt did today, and while it will change nobody's mind, it was good to see specific Democrats taken to the woodshed for their outrageous comments.
HOLY CRAP! Karoline Leavitt is calling out Democrats BY NAME who SPARKED the rhetoric leading to Saturday's attempt on President Trump's life
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 27, 2026
🔵 "Rep Hakeem Jeffrey just THIS MONTH said, 'we are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time.'"
🔵 "Governor Josh Shapiro… pic.twitter.com/hy0vXB3t8K
HOLY CRAP! Karoline Leavitt is calling out Democrats BY NAME who SPARKED the rhetoric leading to Saturday's attempt on President Trump's life
🔵 "Rep Hakeem Jeffrey just THIS MONTH said, 'we are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time.'"
🔵 "Governor Josh Shapiro said heads need to roll within the administration."
🔵 "Senator Alex Padilla said people are DYING because of fear and terror caused by the Trump administration."
🔵 "Senator Elizabeth Warren: President Trump is making the country look like a 'FASCIST STATE'"
🔵 "Senator Adam Schiff saying President Trump using a dictator playbook"
Senator Ed Markey calling President Trump a dictator, saying that this administration's actions are authoritarism on STEROIDS"
🔵 "Governor JB Pritzker: 'Never before in my life have I called for mass protest disruptions. These Republicans cannot know a MOMENT of peace.'"
🔵 "Rep. Pressley saying we'll see you in the streets."
🔵 Monica M McIver, a Democrat representative on Capitol Hill, we will "not take this sh*t from Donald Trump. He thinks he's a DICTATOR. We are at WAR!"
"These are Democrat elected officials calling for WAR against the president of the United States and his supporters."
It's not enough, really. The White House should put together a good supercut of Democrats calling for actual violence, but I suppose they are aware that lots of people on the internet have done so.
But then again, we don't have the reach the president does, and certainly don't have the ability that they do to get Pravda to air even a small number of clips.
I am still waiting to see what the psychological fallout will be with media folks who were in that room. For the most part, the rhetoric and violence aimed at Trump and Republicans is abstract to them. It's not quite the same when you hear the actual gunshots.
Many of these people live in very comfortable bubbles, and judging by the looks on their faces when the camera panned the ballroom, Donald Trump and administration officials, who were the actual targets of the violence, were by far the least freaked out by the scene.
Trump, once again, was a total badass.
Media folks know all about the violent rhetoric, whatever they pretend. But I don't think it sank in for many of them before now.
Maybe it still hasn't, for all I know.
It would be interesting to know how many reporters who live in Virginia voted for Jay Jones, for instance.
It is really important to call out the violent rhetoric, not because we will convince many to stop, but to chip away at the Narrativeâ„¢.
So kudos to Karoline Leavitt for this. Keep it up, White House.
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