A man with firearms and knives just tried to assassinate the President of the United States at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Ten days later, a nurse at one of America's most prestigious hospitals told him he needed better aim.
And Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just issued the most cowardly non-response in corporate history – but the nurse who cheered on a presidential assassination attempt is still employed there.
What the Nurse Actually Said
Matthew Shaffer is a nurse practitioner at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, listed on the hospital's own provider directory.
When a social media user posted about the April 25 attempt at the Washington Hilton – writing "Someone missed again? Who is hiring these people" – Shaffer replied with two words: "Up your game, people."
He was not calling for better security.
He was telling Cole Tomas Allen, the man now facing life in prison for attempting to assassinate President Trump, to try harder next time.
Cedars-Sinai's response was a masterclass in saying nothing while sounding like something.
"Social media postings of individual staff members do not reflect the views or positions of Cedars-Sinai," the hospital told Fox News Digital.
That's it.
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2051005140333637728?s=20
No termination.
No suspension.
No statement that cheering presidential assassination attempts is disqualifying conduct for a healthcare provider.
Just a sentence that could have been written by a robot and buried in a press release.
This Is Now a Pattern
Cedars-Sinai did not fire Shaffer – but employers across the country who found their employees doing the same thing moved fast.
Corrine Baum, a pre-K teacher in Cincinnati, posted a TikTok video making clear she was disappointed Trump survived the shooting.
BrightPath, her employer, terminated her the next day.
Their statement left nothing to interpretation: "The comments made online by this individual are deeply inconsistent with our values. The individual in question has been terminated."
In Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, a school data manager at Friends' Central School posted on Instagram Threads before the shooting – "I hope it happens at the Correspondents' Dinner tonight" – and after – "Welp, I guess someone did too."
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2049173369296158976?s=20
The school released a statement saying it was founded on "respect for all people" and was reviewing the matter.
In Wisconsin, a Kaukauna school district employee who posted disappointment about the failed shooting was placed on administrative leave – with the district stating it "unequivocally rejects any conduct, expression, or behavior that may encourage, condone, or promote violence in any form."
In every case, employers understood that employees who root for the assassination of the sitting President of the United States cannot remain in positions of trust.
Every employer except Cedars-Sinai.
The Cole Allen Reality Check
This is not abstract.
Cole Tomas Allen drove from California armed with firearms and knives.
He booked a room inside the Washington Hilton – the same hotel where John Hinckley Jr. tried to take out Ronald Reagan in 1981.
He strapped weapons to his body, took a photo of himself in the mirror, and walked toward the security checkpoint where the President was attending his first-ever White House Correspondents' Dinner.
A Secret Service agent was shot – struck in his bullet-resistant vest – and Trump, the First Lady, Vice President Vance, and multiple Cabinet officials were evacuated from the ballroom.
Allen is now facing three federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, and faces life in prison.
And a nurse practitioner at a major Los Angeles hospital thinks the only problem was Allen's marksmanship.
The Question Cedars-Sinai Refuses to Answer
Radio host Doug Wagner put it directly on X: "So, are you good with an RN of yours cheering on the assassination of the President? What if someone who is clearly a Trump supporter is in your hospital? Think maybe he could kill that person. You down with that?"
That question deserves an answer.
Matthew Shaffer treats patients.
Those patients do not get to screen their nurse for political sympathies before going under his care.
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2051364237809737785?s=20
Any Trump voter, any conservative, any Republican official who ends up at Cedars-Sinai deserves to know whether the person monitoring their condition privately believes someone should "up their game" when it comes to harming the people they voted for.
Cedars-Sinai's statement does not answer that question.
It dodges it.
The hospital decided that cheerleading for presidential assassination is a private matter best handled with boilerplate PR.
That is not a values statement.
That is cowardice dressed up in corporate language – and Cedars-Sinai owes its patients an answer.
Sources:
- Rachel del Guidice, "Los Angeles medical center responds after nurse says Trump assassination attempt should have succeeded," Fox News, May 5, 2026.
- Rachel del Guidice, "Ohio teacher fired after video appearing to lament Trump surviving WHCA Dinner shooting," Fox News, April 28, 2026.
- Rachel del Guidice, "Educators face backlash, firings after posts lament Trump surviving WHCA dinner shooting," Fox News, April 30, 2026.
- "2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting," Wikipedia, updated May 2026.