What does NBC News correspondent Julie Tsirkin’s response to Saturday’s shooting tell us about the state of media and its legitimacy in being the anointed authority on information?
Saturday saw Secret Service outside of the White House exchange fire with 21-year-old Nasire Best, leaving the gunman deceased. Best was charged with trying to unlawfully enter the White House on one occasion last year. According to USA Today, he was delusional, believing himself to be Jesus Christ.
President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time, leading many to understandably believe this was another attempt on the president’s life.
Tsirkin was among several correspondents outside as the news cycle revolved around the ongoing conflict with Iran and peace talks.
Gunshots rang out around 6 p.m. that evening, but from the correspondent’s reaction, she clearly didn’t know it.
This reporter has the survival instincts of a lemming. pic.twitter.com/LV2tIJ8QAM
— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) May 24, 2026
Should she have known what was happening immediately, or are people being too critical of her response?
After several shots, Tsirkin asked her crew, “What is that?” staring in the direction of the noise.
After one replied it sounded like fireworks, she leaned in further. The footage ends with her turning back, blankly looking at her crew for any more information.
Users on social media platform X lampooned her, pointing out what looked like a lack of survival instincts. The user above concluded she had “the survival instincts of a lemming.”
Others edited the footage, putting Tsirkin in front of backdrops like the Barack Obama Presidential Library, a tall, bleak, and ugly grey structure.
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/2koSWxEX8R
— JustJamie (@OYourNameHereO) May 24, 2026
Another had her reacting to former late night host Stephen Colbert’s cringeworthy pro-vaccine segment during COVID.
— Serf (@TheRoyalSerf) May 24, 2026
Scrolling through X, there are seemingly endless edits like this, but Tsirkin embraced the joke, posting herself alongside one of a Roman centurion outside Jesus’ empty tomb, writing, “I’m glad I could take one for the team with @nbcsnl on summer break.”
“Thanks for the memes, internet! Hope you’ll stick around for the reporting.”
I’m glad I could take one for the team with @nbcsnl on summer break
Thanks for the memes, internet! Hope you’ll stick around for the reporting 🙇♀️ pic.twitter.com/m4a5xGmvIa
— Julie Tsirkin (@news_jul) May 24, 2026
ABC News correspondent Selina Wang ducked for cover. Others outside the White House responded similarly. Tsirkin gained so much attention because she was doing the opposite of everyone else.
That shouldn’t end the conversation as to whether or not this can prompt a larger discussion about members of the media. For every Wang, there are several Tsirkins — correspondents largely insulated from the topics they report on every day.
The information class has been losing the exclusivity they’ve been afforded in being authorities on policies needed to address society’s seemingly pressing issues because of moments just like this.
Why would anyone listen to a media member impress upon us the devastating effects of gun violence when they don’t even know what one sounds like?
There is not an anointed information class anymore. Through technological innovation — smartphones and social media — we don’t rely on media outlets with camera crews, “experts,” and panels of overpaid pundits in thousand-dollar suits to orient our outlook.
Tsirkin’s viral moment is a fresh reminder of this.
It’s not a novel adage, but one that is timeless in the American tradition, only updating itself in newer circumstances — we do not need a select few telling us how to live and think.
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