Erika Kirk addresses White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting with emotional announcement
Erika Kirk has officially addressed the assassination attempt made against President Trump last week.
Taking to X, the widow - whose husband, right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot during a debate in September - shared a brief statement, describing the latest incident as 'traumatic'.
According to members of the US Secret Service, an attempt was made on Trump's life during a White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday (25 April).
An armed man, later identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher and engineer, was accused of rushing a White House security checkpoint and exchanging gunfire with law enforcement.
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The Republican leader had been in attendance alongside the First Lady, Melania Trump, several other high-profile White House officials and a collection of journalists, according to NBC News.
A clip of the incident has since gone viral online, showing Vice President JD Vance, 41, being manoeuvred away from a dinner table by the Secret Service.
Armed police could subsequently be seen storming the room before security officials wrangled Trump to remove the 79-year-old from the room.
Erika Kirk, one of Trump's right-wing political allies, has since addressed the incident.
"Saturday was yet another traumatic example of the evil in our country and the continued rise in political violence," the mother-of-two penned on social media. "I’m taking time to spend with my family."
Erika went on to add: "I will be joining The Charlie Kirk Show Wednesday at 12PM ET to briefly address what took place. Enough is enough."
The daily three-hour radio talk show had previously been hosted by her late husband on Salem Media Group's The Answer radio channel, up until his assassination last year.
Kirk previously used the segment to voice his highly conservative Christian views against the likes of homosexuality, abortion, gun rights and the Second Amendment, the transgender community and ethnic and religious minorities.
He was assassinated while hosting a crowded open-air event at Utah Valley University in September. Tyler Robinson surrendered at the Washington County Sheriff's Office the following day, after which text messages were recovered showing the 22-year-old telling his roommate of his plan, adding of Kirk: "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out."
Following the latest attempt against his life, Trump took to social media to claim the incident would never have happened if 'a military-secured ballroom' had been built on the grounds of the White House - an odd reference to his ongoing costly renovation of the presidential residence.
"What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” he alleged. "This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!"
Trump's statement, which was shared on Truth Social, have since sparked a conspiracy theory that the shooting was 'staged', with critics claiming his post delivered a 'marketing plan in record time'.
Tyla has previously contacted the White House for comment.
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics, Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk
Rhianna Benson