A few minutes after U.S. President Donald Trump began his press conference in the White House briefing room, Secret Service burst into the room and hustled him out.
Television viewers and reporters were left stunned by the abruptness of Trump’s departure on Monday evening.
As rumors spread on social media, there were reports that a man had been shot near the White House.
Comedienne Kathy Griffin took to Twitter to assure her followers she had nothing to do with the reported shooting outside the White House.
“It wasn’t me,” tweeted the 59-year-old comedian, minutes after news of the shooting broke.
About 20 minutes after his abrupt departure, Trump returned to the White House briefing room and revealed the details of the shooting to the press.
“There was a shooting outside of the White House and it seems to be very well under control. I’d like to thank the Secret Service for doing their always quick and very effective work,” he said.
When asked if the White House had been breached in any way, he replied: “I don’t think the person breached anything. I don’t believe anything was breached.” Trump added that he was not taken to the White House bunker underground.
Griffin is no fan of Donald Trump. She notably shared footage of herself with a severed Donald Trump head art piece in 2017, which sparked a wave of outrage and resulted in her being blacklisted.
The funnywoman lost endorsement deals and was removed from her co-hosting duties of CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage as a result of her actions.