“Staged”
4/28/202626 min
Conspiracy theories flooded the internet after a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. What used to be fringe is now a default reaction. This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Danielle Hewitt, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore, and hosted by Noel King. Security agents rush HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of the ballroom during the shooting at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsNoel King· Host0:00
[instrumental music] Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche offered a bit of a reality check about the shooting at the White House Correspondence Dinner. The president, he said, was not really in danger.
Todd Blanche· Soundbite0:11
This man was a floor above the ballroom with hundreds of federal agents between him and the President of the United States.
Noel King· Host0:20
The worst never came to pass.
Todd Blanche· Soundbite0:22
Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do.
Noel King· Host0:27
Solid attorney generaling. Then late yesterday, Blanche filed a request asking a federal judge to overturn a previous ruling and allow President Trump to build a ballroom. Wait, what? [upbeat music] How did this get to be about the ballroom? Today on Today Explained from Vox, fallout from this weekend's attempted assassination, the good, the bad, the weird, the conspiracies, all of it up ahead.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:51
It's drone-proof. It's bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:53
If you need more evidence of why this feels staged, everyone is talking about the ballroom.
Speaker 41:01
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Dan Egan1:09
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Speaker 41:26
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