Providing Context for Leavitt's Examples of 'Violent Rhetoric'

Two days after an armed man tried to enter the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited rhetoric from Democrats that she said is "inspiring violence" against President Donald Trump and other Republicans. But several of the statements she quoted were stripped of their original context, a point that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made in a rebuttal.

In prepared remarks in the April 27 press briefing, Leavitt called out a number of congressional Democrats, and a late-night television host, for "hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed" at Trump. On April 25, security prevented the armed man from accessing the WHCA dinner, which the president and top administration officials attended. After Leavitt's briefing, the man was charged with attempting to assassinate the president.