I don’t know why we’re handing out Pulitzer’s over this story. I’m not arguing against the story. Donald Trump’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, was one of the most notable events in political history in at least a generation: a presidential candidate was shot, with the Secret Service was later exposed as having egregious lapses in security. We still know next to nothing about shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks. Yet, The Washington Post won a Pulitzer for their coverage (via WaPo):
Jabin Botsford thought he was hearing fireworks until he saw Donald Trump fall. He immediately knew he needed to switch cameras — he was wielding his longer lens, but the once and future president of the United States had been shot just several feet in front of him, and the photographer was determined to get closer to the action.
“We all just reacted,” Botsford recalled Monday. “I went forward. If this massively historic moment — maybe the most historic moment I will ever witness — is going to happen 10 feet in front of me, I’m going to get a good picture of it.”
There are too many stories of photographers who miss important moments, he added, and “I didn’t want to be one of them.” He didn’t even comprehend his own personal peril until 30 minutes later, after the chaos abated, when he called his wife.
Botsford’s startling images of that day — including a bloodied Trump raising a fist as Secret Service agents swarmed him and the candidate’s black dress shoe abandoned on the red-carpeted stage — contributed to The Washington Post’s team coverage of the July 13 assassination attempt at a Butler, Pa., campaign rally. That work was recognized with the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news on Monday — one of two Pulitzers awarded to The Post for its journalism in 2024.
So, why did you all sanitize this assassination attempt to hell when it happened?
The Post’s headline for the incident: “Trump taken away after loud noises at rally.”
The Washington Post, which initially described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump as "loud noises at rally," has just received a Pulitzer for its coverage of the assassination attempt.
— Elle Purnell (@_ellepurnell) May 5, 2025
(h/t: original screenshot from @TomBevanRCP) pic.twitter.com/DKw1elDwGF
It featured the image of him shot through the ear. And it wasn’t just The Washington Post—every major outlet, including Fox News, decided to play stupid that day.
NBC what the fk is this. pic.twitter.com/hb5NJKbMNt
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) July 13, 2024
Really? No mention of the attempt to kill him? pic.twitter.com/fcc5AV0dPn
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 13, 2024
Guys, cmon. pic.twitter.com/okLyo1rnn8
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 13, 2024
Fox News just as bad. pic.twitter.com/bTbfoNh0XA
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) July 13, 2024
Anyways, congrats on the Pulitzer, WaPo, I guess, for those series of stories that you obviously didn’t want to write or be true because you knew this incident would seal the deal for Trump in the 2024 election, and it did.
"Loud noises." Good Lord, people.