Dem and GOP lawmakers trade blame over rhetoric after WHCD shooting: ‘It is disgusting’

As Democrats and Republicans clash over escalating political rhetoric in the wake of Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., is urging leaders on both sides to “bring the temperature down.”

The call for cooler rhetoric comes after Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., allegedly stormed the lobby of the Washington Hilton hotel during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and opened fire.

“It’s an opportunity, in my opinion, for everyone to bring the temperature down,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital. “If we do the finger pointing, then the temperature’s never going to come down…We’re like high schoolers.”

Allen, who was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives, was apprehended by the Secret Service as hundreds of journalists and Cabinet officials were escorted out of the hotel.

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“The rhetoric on both sides, for a while now, has been elevated, and listen, the president has had a part of that,” Moskowitz said. “He’s had responsibility in the rhetoric, and he should own that. His tweets exist. There’s a reality of that.”

Allen, who appeared in federal court Monday, is facing charges of attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

Authorities said the suspect sent a written manifesto to members of his family outlining his intent to target Trump and other Cabinet officials before the alleged shooting.

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“The manifesto doesn’t sound much different than all of the talking heads on every liberal news station,” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said.

This would mark another assassination attempt targeting President Trump after two in 2024, when he was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and later targeted at his Florida golf course.

“You got psycho-frickin’ leftists trying to assassinate President Trump once again… the violence is always on their side,” Boebert said. “It is disgusting, and it needs to end, period.”

She said that President Trump’s plan for a ballroom addition to the White House is a necessary security measure.

“I want the ballroom built,” she said. “This is a national security issue at this time, and it needs to be built.”

She added these incidents are part of a larger pattern. In September, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University as part of his “American Comeback Tour.”

“Look what they did to Charlie Kirk, a man that wanted to sit down and have a conversation,” Boebert said. “They hated him so much, their rhetoric caused him to be assassinated. One of their liberal freaks assassinated him. This only happens with liberals,” Boebert said.

In a news conference on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters a “left-wing cult of hatred” was to blame for the violence.

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Leavitt slammed ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his recent comment that the first lady had the “glow of an expectant widow.”

“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” she said. “And having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you she was anything but that.”

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Multiple Democrats have also rejected far-left streamer Hasan Piker amid scrutiny of his political rhetoric. Piker pushed back, calling those condemning him “propagandists for the state of Israel.”

“I do reject people on my side, or trying to be on my side, like Hasan Piker, who’s advocating for senators to be killed and saying things like, ‘we deserve 9/11.’ He’s not a Democrat. He doesn’t belong in the Democratic Party,” Moskowitz said.

However, he said Americans “don’t believe” either side is blameless.

“The American people don’t believe that and it’s why our poll numbers for both sides are in the tubes,” Moskowitz said.

Fox News Digital attempted to ask Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., about the shooting and rising political violence, but she ignored the questions.

The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.