George Clooney took aim at the conspiracy theorists searching for proof that a shooting attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was staged.
Conspiracy theories have swirled online following Saturday’s shooting, in which 31-year-old part-time teacher Cole Tomas Allen opened fire outside the Washington Hilton ballroom where President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet were gathered along with more than 2,000 journalists and guests.
The theories stem in part from comments made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt prior to the event, in which she told reporters that Trump, who was set to address attendees, was “ready to rumble.”
“I will tell you this speech tonight will be classic Donald J. Trump. It’ll be funny. It’ll be entertaining,” Leavitt said, adding, “There will be some shots fired tonight.”
Others seized upon a joke made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in his Thursday monologue, two days before the event.
“Look at Melania, so beautiful,” Kimmel said while delivering a fake WHCD address. “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
The backlash was immediate, with Melania calling Kimmel a “coward,” his words “corrosive,” and imploring ABC to “take a stand” against his “atrocious behavior.” Her husband also called for his long-time late-night foe to be fired.
Asked about the conspiracy theories by 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell, the president, 79, said that he hadn’t heard any of the theories but that those spreading them were “more sick than they are con people.”
“But there’s a lot of con in there too.”
Ahead of his appearance at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala in New York City where he was honored for his contributions to cinema, George Clooney defended Kimmel from the Trumps’ attacks while also criticizing conspiracy theorists for latching onto his monologue and Leavitt’s comments as proof the shooting was staged.
“Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney told Variety before the gala.
“She was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, ’Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately.”
“When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated,” Clooney added, calling for the rhetoric to be “toned down.”
The 64-year-old also used his speech during the gala to condemn political violence and call for unity.
“I disagree with everything that this administration stands for, but there’s no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago in Washington, D.C,” he told attendees, adding, “Nor is there a room for this kind of violence in Minnesota with Alex Pretti or Renée Good.”
He concluded by asking, “The question is simply: What are we, as citizens of this great country, to do?”
“It is that answer in all of us, left, right and center, to build a more perfect union, heal our wounds and begin to truly make America great again.”
Kimmel appeared defiant on the Monday night episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, explaining that his joke was not “by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.”
“And they know that,” he added, referring to his critics in the administration. “I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular.”
Addressing the first lady, Kimmel said, “I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do. And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”
