'President Was Last Option': Netizens React To Video of VP Vance Rushed to Safety Ahead of Trump After Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting

New Delhi: The world woke up to a startling incident on Sunday morning as a shooting incident during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, attended by US President Donald Trump and the first lady, on Saturday evening (local time), grabbed global headlines. President Trump and other officials present at the venue were evacuated.

However, what grabbed everybody's attention on the internet was US Vice-President JD Vance being evacuated from the stage at the event before President Trump.

The footage that has gone viral shows Vance being pulled up by his shoulders by a man, as soon as shots were heard in a Washington hotel. The clip shows him being taken to safety. Later, some men were seen rushing onto the stage, and then President Trump was escorted to safety.

What netizens said?

As social media reactions pour in regarding the security response, netizens have raised questions about the order of evacuation.

One user noted: “Why was the VP evacuated first? Or should we say that Trump's security details are not fast enough?”

Another commented: "Still figuring out why JD Vance was escorted first."

Mocking the scene, one X user said: "Imagine being the President of the United States and watching your VP get rushed to safety while you're still sitting at the table."

Sharing a photo of Erika Kirk being escorted, another stated: "President was 3rd in priority…."

A user also added: "The President was the last option."

However, some users stepped in to defend the response and offer potential explanations for the protocol.

One defender said: "He's closer to the secure room, Trump was farther."

Another pointed out: "Trump is old and can't move like JD can meaning they're clearly going to have different plans from their details."

What Trump said about the incident

Speaking about the incident, Trump described the attacker as a “sick” individual adding that he was swiftly overpowered by the Secret Service. “A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of the Secret Service,” he said. 

Trump also highlighted that it was not the first attack on his life.

"This is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill in Butler, Pennsylvania, less than two years ago... and in Palm Beach, Florida, a few months after that, we came close. We really had, again, some great work done by law enforcement...," he said.

Srutiny of Trump security arrangements

U.S. law enforcement officials are reassessing security arrangements after a gunman opened fire near the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, raising questions about how he was able to get so close to an event attended by President ​Donald Trump, cabinet members and lawmakers, as per Reuters. 

The ​most obvious lesson from the incident, the former law enforcement officials said, is that security personnel may need to expand the protective perimeter around the president at large public venues, ​even if that leads to public inconvenience.

At Saturday's dinner, guests were required to pass through magnetometers, or metal detectors, to enter the ballroom but needed only a ticket to access the hotel itself. Several people ​tried to enter using last year's ticket, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event's planning.

Officials said the California man who allegedly sprinted past security, armed with multiple weapons, appeared to circumvent even ​that basic step by checking in to the hotel in the days before the event.

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