Fetterman: Democrats should ‘drop the TDS,’ fund Trump ballroom after shooting
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is calling on fellow Democrats to support the construction of a new ballroom at the White House after a lone gunman tried to assassinate the president and senior administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday.
Fetterman said the Washington Hilton, where Secret Service officers exchanged gunfire with a 31-year-old man armed with a shotgun and handgun, was not secure enough to host an event with the president, vice president and more than 2,000 guests.
“We were there front and center. That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government. After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these,” Fetterman posted Sunday on the social platform X, referring to “Trump derangement syndrome,” a term the president uses for his critics.
Fetterman attached his comment to an article by Mediaite Editor-in-Chief Joe DePaolo with the headline, “I Was Inside the Washington Hilton Tonight. The Security was Downright Awful.”
DePaolo, who did not attend the dinner itself, reported that he could get into the Hilton by showing a photo of an invitation to the Fox News preparty.
The suspect, who was apprehended after running past the magnetometers on the Hilton’s terrace level, mocked the security at the hotel in a manifesto he shared with family members shortly before attempting to storm the dinner, where President Trump and Vice President Vance were seated at the head table.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is third in the line of presidential succession, was also at the dinner.
Cole Thomas Allen, the suspect, got into the Hilton by booking a room and did not have an invitation to the dinner or any of the pre-parties.
“The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before,” the suspect wrote in the message shared with his family.
Trump cited the security vulnerabilities of the hotel during a press conference Saturday night, arguing that the incident shows why a 1,000-person ballroom needs to be built at the White House — a construction project that has set off a storm of criticism in Washington.
“I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s much more secure. It’s got — it’s drone-proof. It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom,” Trump told reporters after the shooting.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued the administration to block the construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which would significantly affect the symmetry and historical appearance of the White House.
A federal judge last month issued an injunction halting construction of the ballroom after months of litigation though a federal appeals court issued an administrative stay allowing the project to proceed until early June.
Judge Richard J. Leon ruled on March 31 that construction had to stop unless Congress authorized the new ballroom by passing legislation.
The Department of Justice on Sunday urged the National Trust for Historic Preservation to drop what it called a “frivolous lawsuit” citing the “extraordinary events” of the attempted assassinations Saturday at the Hilton.
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