When loud bangs echoed near the White House over the weekend, most people ducked and scrambled for safety. But one NBC reporter’s response to danger went viral online, instantly becoming meme material.
“I saw this earlier and thought it was a parody video in front of a green screen,” a viewer commented online. “Yeah, she would be one of the first to go.”
NBC reporter Julie Tsirkin was mocked online for her response to the weekend incident at the White House
Image credits: NBC News
The White House lawn turned tense on Saturday evening when a man pulled out a revolver from his messenger bag and fired outside the White House at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC.
The armed suspect fired multiple times at the White House security checkpoint before Secret Service officers immediately returned fire and struck him.
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NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Tsirkin was reporting for a routine live segment on the White House lawn when the loud bangs were heard.
The cameraman captured her super calm and confused reaction.
“What is that?” Julie asked.
“It sounds like fireworks,” a male voice was heard saying.
Image credits: NBC News
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The unperturbed NBC reporter then turned toward the White House and took a step toward the sound before a Secret Service agent told reporters to take cover inside the press briefing room.
“I was outside of these doors on the North Lawn getting ready to tape something for your show, when myself and my cameraman, John, we heard what sounded like 20 to 30 sh*ts,” she was heard saying from the press briefing room after the exchange of gunfire.
“I ended up running after that happened,” she went on to say. “I saw a Secret Service agent come out of the security booth, g*ns drawn, telling the few of us who are out there to ‘run inside the press briefing room.’”
Julie and the cameraman ran to the press briefing room after hearing a Secret Service agent yell orders at them
@selinawangtvI was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots. It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now.♬ original sound – Selina Wang
Social media erupted with memes about Julie’s muted reaction to danger, claiming she has the “survival skills of a potato.”
“Situational awareness of a house plant,” one said, while another wrote, “It looked like an SNL skit.”
“Sweet girly pop, it’s not fireworks it’s Americas National Anthem.”
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“So wait, this is legit?” another asked. “The first time I saw it, I was sure it was a spoof or something.”
One wrote, “Survival instincts and situational awareness of a baby squirrel.” Another comparison read, “Survival instincts of a tree.”
Others sympathized with the reporter’s reaction, saying, “It’s easy to say what you would do in the moment, when it isn’t you in the moment.”
“Imagine waking up a meme,” one netizen commented on her video
Image credits: NBC News
“I totally understand her reactions,” one sympathized. “I didn’t grow up around g*nshots and was in my 30’s before I heard a g*n fight. If you’ve never heard them before, it’s not immediately assumed to be g*nfire.”
“Let’s be clear, the average person doesn’t react to g*nfire like you’d want them to,” another said. “Unless you see the g*n the most common reaction is what you just saw and heard, ‘no I think that was fireworks.’”
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After her reaction was given the meme treatment, Julie was an absolute sport and wrote on X, “I’m glad I could take one for the team.”
“Thanks for the memes, internet! Hope you’ll stick around for the reporting,” she added.
The reporter also addressed how this was the second firearm-related incident she had witnessed while on duty in the last four weeks.
The reporter spoke about how she witnessed two firearm-related incidents while on duty in the last four weeks
@nbcsouthfloridaCaught on video: Gunshots heard near the White House while Nightly News reporter was about to tape for the show♬ original sound – NBCSouthFlorida
“Twice in one month I found myself face to face with a USSS agent yelling at me to get to safety, guns drawn,” she wrote on Instagram. “I find myself thankful, again, that I could run to safety when so many run to danger.”
After bullets were fired at the checkpoint on Saturday, the 21-year-old suspect Nasire Best was struck by the gunfire and lost his life in the hospital.
A bystander was also seriously wounded in the exchange but is now in stable condition.
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The suspect from Maryland was known to both the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department prior to Saturday’s incident.
He had a documented history of mental health conditions and attempted to gain entry to the White House in July 2025, claiming he was Jesus Christ and telling officers he “wanted to get arrested.”
Nasire Best, who once told officers he was Jesus Christ, was struck by gunfire and taken to the hospital
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Officers arrested him at the time, and he spent time in a psychiatric facility following the incident.
“I’m actually the son of God,” Nasire wrote in one social media post. He threatened violence against US President Donald Trump in another post.
Image credits: Tia Dufour/DHS
When Nasire opened fire on Saturday, ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was also handling coverage in the area and immediately ducked for cover.
“My initial thought was this must be fireworks or something else,” she said while later sharing her experience on an ABC News segment.
Selina immediately ducked when she heard the words “get down,” realizing they were actually in danger.
She and her team began running upon hearing the Secret Service agent ordering reporters to move to the press briefing room.
“We were running as fast as we could,” she said. “The g*nshots sounded so close we were worried as we were running that the g*nshots were actually getting into the White House grounds.”
Selina said they remained in the room for about half an hour.
President Trump was in the Oval Office at the time of the incident.
“It’s not in her script!” one commenter wrote on Julie’s video, while another wrote, “Hearing that in real time must’ve been intense”
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