Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, is accusing a member of the press of voicing a death wish for President Donald Trump as chaos erupted during Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Ogles made the claim in a video shared on X by the Daily Wire’s Lynden Blake, describing what he said he heard inside the Washington Hilton after shots were fired and guests were told to take cover.
“There was a reporter, I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to say it,” Ogles said.
“There was a reporter in the room who was under a table, and when the shots went off and everybody’s hiding, she said, ‘I hope they kill the orange MF.’”
Ogles said the comment stunned him, not only for its content but for how casually it was delivered in a room full of journalists and public officials.
“That was a journalist in the room who was hoping that when she stood up, the President of the United States would be dead,” he added.
Ogles argued the episode reflects a political climate where hostility has shifted from debate to something darker.
“So I’m coming to a public venue where I know it might be hostile, to expose myself to an honest dialogue, an open dialogue. If you ask me a question and I don’t have an answer, I will get you something in writing, or we can talk on the phone,” he said.
“But when you have members of the press openly enticing, hoping, talking about killing the chief executive officer of this country, again, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, I don’t care. That’s a problem.”
Asked to repeat the remark, Ogles said the reporter’s words were, “I hope they killed the orange MF.”
WATCH: Rep @AndyOgles told me he heard a reporter at the WHCD Saturday night say “I hope they kill the orange MF” (talking about President Trump) while she was hiding from the shooter. pic.twitter.com/GuRwowtNAf
— Lynden Blake (@LyndenBlake) April 27, 2026
He later reposted the clip on his own X account and framed it as evidence the left no longer sees politics as persuasion.
“To the Left, it’s no longer a battlefield of ideas; it’s open warfare,” Ogles wrote.
The allegation comes amid renewed scrutiny of political rhetoric after the shooting disrupted the annual gala, a high-profile gathering of journalists, elected officials and administration figures. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is typically marketed as a night of speeches and satire, but Saturday’s event was overshadowed by the security incident and the evacuation that followed.
In an opinion column for the New York Post, Karol Markowicz argued that violent rhetoric aimed at Trump has become normalized in mainstream political culture.
“We’ve become desensitized to violent rhetoric like this when it comes from the left, specifically because it is mimicked by Democratic elected officials,” she wrote.
“Democrats can put a stop to this. They can say this rhetoric doesn’t represent them, and make it abundantly clear they won’t stand for violence,” she added.
“They can tell the truth and call a halt to the intense hatred that’s motivating sick people to take their best shot at our president. If they don’t, the American people should see their silence as tacit approval.”
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