An on-air reaction from an NBC News correspondent during a shooting near the White House has gone viral online, with social media users turning the footage into memes. Correspondent Julie Tsirkin was reporting outside the White House on Saturday when multiple gunshots were heard nearby. In video widely shared online, she pauses mid-report and asks, “What is that?” as loud popping sounds echo in the background.
Her cameraman initially suggested the sounds may have been fireworks, but moments later Tsirkin and her crew moved quickly for cover as an armed Secret Service agent took up position nearby. Speaking later on NBC News, Tsirkin said she and her crew heard “20 to 30” gunshots during the incident.
“I ended up running after that happened. I saw a Secret Service agent come out of the security booth, guns drawn, telling all of us, the few of us who were out there, to run inside the press briefing room,” she said.
Authorities said a man identified as Nasire Best approached a White House checkpoint on Saturday evening and opened fire after pulling a handgun from a bag. A bystander was injured before Secret Service officers returned fire, killing the suspect at the scene.
This reporter has the survival instincts of a lemming. pic.twitter.com/LV2tIJ8QAM
— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) May 24, 2026
According to reports citing sources, the 21-year-old had been seen pacing along 17th Street NW before the shooting at about 18:10 local time. Sources also told the New York Post that the man was known to the Secret Service and believed he was Jesus Christ.
US President Donald Trump later wrote on Truth Social that the suspect had a “possible obsession” with the White House.
Another journalist, Selina Wang of ABC News, also shared footage from outside the White House, saying it sounded like “dozens of gunshots”.
The clip of Tsirkin’s reaction quickly spread across social media, with some users comparing it to a well-known meme featuring rapper Cardi B saying: “Oh my God, what is that?!”
Others online defended the correspondent’s reaction. One user on X wrote: “I totally understand her reactions. I didn’t grow up around gunshots and was in my 30’s before I heard a gun fight. If you’ve never heard them before, it’s not immediately assumed to be gun fire.”
Internet users later edited the footage into parody videos, digitally replacing the White House backdrop with scenes including battlefields, mushroom clouds and other fictional scenarios.
Tsirkin later responded to the attention with humour, posting an image on X showing one of the memes displayed on her computer screen.
“I’m glad I could take one for the team, with [‘Saturday Night Live’] on summer break,” she wrote. “Thanks for the memes, internet! Hope you’ll stick around for the reporting.”