MS NOW's Scarborough Slams Ballroom Plea, Lemire Still Upset with "Fraught' WHCD

Nicholas Spinnato
April 28th, 2026 9:16 AM

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On Monday’s Morning Joe on MS NOW, the show opened with a discussion on the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting, where Joe Scarborough explained how he always felt the Washington Hilton was not secure. He later flaunted his disdain for the “MAGA sphere” posts about a White House Ballroom after the shooting.

Also, co-host Jonathan Lemire chose to display his dislike for the event’s place during Trump’s presidency, similar to Friday’s show before the event, as he still called the event “fraught and misguided.” Lemire said the President was “never in danger himself,” as he also pointed out the calls for a ballroom after the shooting.

The show discussed the shooting for 12 minutes in the 6 AM hour, before it spent the other segments being against Trump on the Iran War, the administration’s strategy about Russia’s War on Ukraine, and a story that bashed the Supreme Court on “shadow dockets.”

 

 

Scarborough started his discussion on the shooting and its location, as he said he knew the building was not secure: “It's never made sense to me. It's never made sense to Mika. We haven't been in, I don't know, maybe a decade. I can't remember the last time, but it seems like such an un-secure place.”

He then turned to a narrative being used in conspiracies about the shooting online. Scarborough pointed to “coordinated posts” from “MAGA-sphere” X accounts that called for a White House Ballroom after the shooting:

And by the way, this whole idea, and you know, of course, how crazy that like everybody in MAGA-sphere all like within three seconds started posting the same post, right? That was so coordinated about the ballroom.

Scarborough opined that the accounts must have received an email from the White House press team to post about a ballroom. He also seemed worried about cabinet members being at the Washington Hilton, a place that, he says, could not be a “dumber place” to hold an event.

Mika jumped in to blame the White House for the decision to allow Executive Branch attendance of the event: “I would say that's still on the Trump Administration, the White House, whatever - White House is in power to make that decision, to have that concentration of power in one place at a time of war. Five weeks after we decapitated Iran's government.”

 

 

Lemire chimed in to discuss security and picked up on Mika’s point regarding attending the event during war. He returned to his comments from Friday, when he called the event “highly problematic” (which it turned out to be).

Lemire said, “I did not go to the event this year either. I spoke on Friday. I thought it was fraught and misguided this year, in particular, for the correspondents and the administration to be together. But I have been in the past.”

After Lemire’s comments, reporter Ken Dilanian, on for most of the 12-minute opening segment, gave more information on the shooter and his education, as he described his radicalization:

So, it really fits the pattern of what we've seen with Luigi Mangione, accused of killing the United Health Care CEO, or Tyler Robinson, accused of killing Charlie Kirk, of the sort of people on the on the far left fringes who have become radicalized, who are living in a world of unreality, bombarded by conspiracy theories, who decide that they have to take violent action.

The radicalization of left-wing voters had been on display for the past few years, amid, now, three assassination attempts on the current President. The conversation might be better served with more discussion about radicalization and security concerns, not more talk of a press relationship, “MAGA-sphere,” media “talking points,” and the “fraught” thought of a WHCD with the President’s attendance.

The transcript is below. Click "expand":

MS NOW’s Morning Joe

April 27, 2026

6:06:00 AM Eastern

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JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. And Jonathan Lemire, I've got to say, and we've said it before, and you and I have talked about this before, Mika and I certainly have said it for years. It just seems extraordinarily stupid to use an open hotel and get State of the Union type concentration of power in the United States, especially at a time of war against a country that's been the epicenter of terrorism since 1979, and have have them walking around, going in, in and out of parties, standing, standing to, to get their their pictures taken before they go in. 

It's never made sense to me. It's never made sense to Mika. We haven't been in, I don't know, maybe a decade. I can't remember the last time, but it seems like such an un-secure place. And by the way, this whole idea, and you know, of course, how crazy that like everybody in MAGA-sphere all like within three seconds started posting the same post, right? That was so coordinated about the ballroom. 

This event, as Sam Stein and others said, will never be held in the white house because it is not about the White House, it is about correspondents. All that being said, it seems all these coordinated, it's remarkable how quickly they came right after. They must have received an email from the White House or from the press operation. 

But I just can't think of a dumber, dumber place to have this than at the Washington Hilton. I know it's history, but history be damned when you're putting your Secretary of Defense, you're putting your FBI Director, you're putting the Secretary of the Treasury, putting the Vice President, you're putting the president putting - 

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I would say that's still on the Trump Administration, the White House, whatever - White House is in power to make that decision, to have that concentration of power in one place at a time of war. Five weeks after we decapitated Iran's government.

SCARBOROUGH: Right. And it's always been that way. But just because it's always been that way doesn't mean it needs to be that way ever again. Anybody that has been there understands you aren't securing the entire hotel. You're not checking people's bags. You're not doing the basic things that would be done, like at the State of the Union address. 

So, I don't know, there's so much to go here, but what is the verdict right now based on The Washington Post story and everything else about the security at this event, again, especially in light of how heinous, heinous the security was in Butler, Pennsylvania.

LEMIRE: Yeah, that’s going to be one of the questions in these next few days is, should there have been more security there, especially this is the first year President Trump has decided to attend this event. We know there have been attempts on his life previously. Obviously, we're a nation at a time of of war. 

I did not go to the event this year either. I spoke on Friday. I thought it was fraught and misguided this year, in particular, for the correspondents and the administration to be together. But I have been in the past. 

And Ken hit on a really important point here, the hotel remains open you walk in through the main doors and like hotel guests often are lingering in the lobby or at the bar because they want to get a look at some of the reporters or dignitaries who walk in or not. 

That part is still open, and the gunman had free access there, reporting that he stayed at the hotel, but the gunman was nowhere near where the president was. Trump himself was never in danger here. There were several layers of security between him and where the president was sitting. Certainly, you're right, Joe. To highlight the immediate call for the ballroom, Trump himself has said so. He said in his news conference later that night, he said again on Truth Social yesterday. This event would never have been in the ballroom. 

I know they've talked about rescheduling it in the next month or so. I'm not sure that's the best idea because I think the site needs to be reevaluated. I think this can be skipped, and I wonder about the future of the event altogether. But Ken, you know, this is still a very obviously scary moment for everyone in there who did not know that there were still layers of security. 

As you just said, those gunshots were loud. I know so many people in that room who were terrified. And credit to the journalists, by the way, who continue to do their jobs in that room. Credit to security personnel who did so well to get people to safety. The Secret Service and the police deserve an extraordinary amount of credit for what happened. But Ken, tell us more what we know about the suspect here. The person that Mika just identified - the police have in custody what may have motivated him? You know, what has he said or written? What can you tell us about why he did this?

KEN DILANIAN: Jonathan, it's really extraordinary. This is a person who attended one of the most prestigious STEM universities in the country, the California Institute of Technology, CalTech. Got an engineering undergrad degree, got a master's in computer science, and was working, as Mika said, early on, he was working as a part-time teacher, but he described himself as a game developer. You can find video online of him touting a wheelchair invention that allowed wheelchairs to be more stable. 

This was an accomplished, articulate person with a with a with a loving family, apparently, who went down a path of radicalization. And the reason we know that is he's written a thousand-word document where he describes exactly why he did this, and he describes President Trump as a and a pedophile and a rapist. He doesn't explicitly say he was targeting Donald Trump. He says he was targeting Trump Administration officials. He apologizes to his family in this post. There's some evidence that he attended or was associated with a ‘No Kings’ protest. 

So, it really fits the pattern of what we've seen with Luigi Mangione, accused of killing the United Health Care CEO, or Tyler Robinson, accused of killing Charlie Kirk, of the sort of people on the on the far left fringes who have become radicalized, who are living in a world of unreality, bombarded by conspiracy theories, who decide that they have to take violent action. And it's contributing to a climate of political violence in this country that we have not seen since the 1960s.

So, more questions will be asked. And, you know, the FBI is poring over this man's writings and his social media. They served a search warrant on it. They were at his house in Torrance, California, yesterday. So, a lot more investigating still being done. But that thousand-word document that's being that's been widely published.

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