‘Pop. Pop. Pop.’: Inside the room at the White House correspondents dinner

Before Saturday, the routine at the many White House Correspondents’ Association dinners I’ve attended since 2000 has been the same. It’s “nerd prom” weekend in D.C. Before the dinner itself, journalists attend pre-parties wearing black tie. Then we file into the ballroom and chit-chat with friends, colleagues and others as we all find our tables. 

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Inside the Hilton ballroom, there’s the announcement of the vice president. Then, most years, there’s the announcement of the president of the United States and the first lady. With President Donald Trump in attendance Saturday night, this was how everything began. Like normal. 

Until it wasn’t.

After the president and vice president entered, there was the trooping of the colors by members of the armed services with their flags and battle banners to the dais. The national anthem was sung and the colors were trooped out of the room. 

A few remarks and then the dinner was underway. I was seated next to my MS NOW colleague Carol Leonnig. And then … POP, POP, POP, POP.

All of us dove for the floor. I don’t recall any screaming. How much of the silence in that room was learned behavior? This nation has endured hundreds of mass shootings just in the 20-plus years I’ve been attending this dinner — from politically or racially motivated events to other horrific slayings, like the deaths of eight children in Louisiana just last weekend. But I had never personally experienced a shooting event like this. Yet I intuitively knew what to do. Drop to the floor. Get under the table.