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WASHINGTON\u2014Steve Schmidt, a leading anti-Trump activist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, blamed President Donald Trump for \u201cpoisoning the rhetoric in America\u201d minutes after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner.<\/p>\n
The Daily Wire approached Schmidt at Substack\u2019s New Media Party, an alternative to the Correspondents\u2019 Dinner held around the corner from the White House. Moments before, Cole Thomas Allen, a 31-year-old engineer from California, opened fire at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where President Trump and senior government officials were gathered for the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner.<\/p>\n
\nImmediately after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, Lincoln Project co-founder @SteveSchmidtSES<\/a> blamed President Trump for \u201cpoisoning the rhetoric\u201d in America:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a vile and disgusting man.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/dUG2XrcCDl<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Asked for his reaction to the shooting, Schmidt initially said \u201cPretty terrible. Don\u2019t know a lot of details yet.\u201d The Daily Wire then asked Schmidt if the protesters outside the dinner, and the prominent commentators urging attendees to somehow disrupt the event, bore any responsibility for inspiring the shooter.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Schmidt deadpanned.<\/p>\n
The Daily Wire then reminded Schmidt about the two prior attempts on Trump\u2019s life, including the 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a would-be assassin struck Trump and killed a bystander. Schmidt blamed the victim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one person beyond and above all others who\u2019s responsible for poisoning the rhetoric in America, and that guy\u2019s name is Donald Trump,\u201d Schmidt said.<\/p>\n
WATCH: STEVE SCHMIDT CALLS TRUMP \u201cVILE AND DISGUSTING\u201d MOMENTS AFTER SHOOTING<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
Asked if he was blaming the president for the repeated attempts on his life, Schmidt said no \u2014 and then resumed criticizing the president.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a poisonous, venomous man,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cHe\u2019s an insurrectionist, the foremost domestic enemy of the Constitution in American history. He is a vile and disgusting man, a convicted sex predator, and likely a pedophile. And tragically, he\u2019s President of the United States, so we\u2019ll have to endure through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schmidt, a former Republican political operative best known for his work on John McCain\u2019s 2008 presidential campaign, has a history of making controversial statements shortly after presidential assassination attempts. Just two days after the Butler shooting, Schmidt penned a column<\/a> in which he compared the Republican National Convention to a Nazi rally in which he said that Trump, like his would-be assassin, was driven by \u201cviolence and a hatred for democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schmidt founded The Lincoln Project with fellow anti-Trump Republican staffers Rick Wilson and John Weaver in 2019. Schmidt left the group in 2021 in the wake of revelations<\/a> that Weaver had preyed on numerous young men, including one as young as 14. The Lincoln Project enjoyed a brief moment of celebrity among Trump critics, but was quickly marred by scandal.<\/p>\n
Staffers left the group en masse following the reports on Weaver, and The Lincoln Project reportedly spent most of the money it raised on consultants. In 2022, Schmidt\u2019s ex-wife petitioned a court to force him to pay her $100,000<\/a> she claimed she was owed.<\/p>\n
Angela Schmidt also petitioned a court for a restraining order against the MS NOW contributor, who on Saturday evening was wearing a bright navy suit to a black tie event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n