Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, had a Trump Derangement Syndrome flare up as Saturday’s assassination attempt against President Donald Trump caused him to spiral on social media platform X.
Trump and other officials, along with prominent journalists and news personalities, attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. The alleged shooter, Cole Allen of Torrance, California, fired several shots, with one hitting a Secret Service member who was wearing a bulletproof vest, according to ABC News.
Trump was swiftly escorted away in that moment, as this was the third assassination attempt against him made known to the public.
Understandably, Trump and other conservatives are looking to the left and Democrats, scrutinizing their appalling rhetoric against the president that has inspired attempts on his life.
Kinzinger, who would hold his breath should Trump endorse air, was not having it.
“Teddy Roosevelt got shot in the chest and finished a 90-minute speech. Reagan got shot and joked, ‘Honey, I forgot to duck.’ Truman survived an attack and kept his Arlington schedule,” he posted on X.
“None of them blamed their critics. None of them built a ballroom,” he wrote, referencing the president’s plans to add a ballroom to the White House.
Teddy Roosevelt got shot in the chest and finished a 90-minute speech. Reagan got shot and joked, “Honey, I forgot to duck.” Truman survived an attack and kept his Arlington schedule. None of them blamed their critics. None of them built a ballroom. pic.twitter.com/NUAl4RwaVS
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@AdamKinzinger) April 28, 2026
Kinzinger is very worried about the ballroom, as a post from Tuesday indicated: “In 1994, a man crashed his small plane into the White House. Clinton did not build a ballroom because of it. In fact he barely mentioned it. And he definitely did not say that no one can criticize him anymore.”
The Federalist’s Brianna Lynn added needed context to the incident involving former President Bill Clinton.
“It wasn’t an attempted assassination. It was a drunk man who, according to friends, had no ill will toward Clinton. Pretending otherwise is a disingenuous way to downplay the political violence plaguing this country and only further prolongs any real solution.”
9News corroborated that statement, saying the pilot, Frank Eugene Corder, was not political and was intoxicated when the incident occurred.
It wasn’t an attempted assassination. It was a drunk man who, according to friends, had no ill will toward Clinton. Pretending otherwise is a disingenuous way to downplay the political violence plaguing this country and only further prolongs any real solution. https://t.co/t5RGKUIhi4
— Brianna Lyman (@briannalyman2) April 28, 2026
But the former lawmaker still could not get past the ballroom, making a third post that read, “Wonder why we don’t just build a big ballroom around Ukraine and protect them all? Or do that for the Middle East?”
Wonder why we don’t just build a big ballroom around Ukraine and protect them all? Or do that for the Middle East?
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@AdamKinzinger) April 29, 2026
Given this obsession, Kinzinger might not have an issue with Trump at all. The underlying issue may very well be with ballrooms.
The comment about the plane crash wasn’t the only place Kinzinger was being deceptive. Past presidents have certainly blamed their opposition for assassination attempts.
In an eerily similar episode, a crazed gunman, Richard Lawrence, tried to shoot former President Andrew Jackson twice on January 30, 1835. Both pistols misfired and Lawrence was later declared insane, but the accusations swirled. Jackson was convinced his opposition was to blame.
One of Jackson’s chief rivals, South Carolina Sen. John C. Calhoun, took to the Senate floor to declare his innocence. The Whig Party even accused Jackson of staging the attempt.
Let’s not pretend Trump is the first president to look to the opposition for why his life is perpetually in danger.
The impact of Kinzinger’s words cannot be overstated.
He is normalizing assassination attempts.
He is shrugging off what should be an appalling travesty, condemned by all, as another day in American politics.
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