NBC’s Jill Tsirkin was preparing to report live from the White House lawn when gunfire rang out on Saturday.
In a video that’s since gone viral, Tsirkin is seen scrunching her face in confusion and looking around, mildly ducking. “What is that? What is that?” she asks her crew as the shooting continues.
Her reaction to the event has since been turned into dozens of memes across social media, something Tsirkin responded to humorously on Sunday. She joked that she’s filling in for “Saturday Night Live” after Season 51 wrapped last week.
“I’m glad I could take one for the team with @nbcsnl on summer break,” she wrote on X. “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
In one meme, Tsirkin’s footage is played with Donald Trump dancing in the background to the song “YMCA” as she asks, “What is that?”
We need to know… pic.twitter.com/rMkmPxFB6X
— Tarquin
(@Tarquin_Helmet) May 24, 2026
Earlier this month, the president told an audience in Florida that his wife, Melania Trump, “hates it” when he dances to the song, which he described as the “gay national anthem.”
— Rios
(@StrawHatRios) May 24, 2026
Another shows the reporter reacting to a character from “Dragon Ball Z.”
Here ya go
pic.twitter.com/R0XNXdkd3A
— Gizmo Memes (@GizmoMemes) May 24, 2026
Trump is featured in a second meme that appears to show the president opening up a curtained portrait of Tsirkin while commenting that it’s “very cool.”
The clueless “What is That” reporter is now a meme pic.twitter.com/tqMu6XEOxf
— LetsGoGifs (@LetsGoGifs) May 24, 2026
https://t.co/gGiD8Bif7L pic.twitter.com/Fjz2vwdIv1
— I’m Batman (Parody) (@Pray4TheBatman) May 24, 2026
“Hilarious! You couldn’t have been more chill and/or oblivious. The memes wrote themselves,” one person wrote in response to Tsirkin’s post. “Glad you’re a good sport about it because this s–t is funny!”
A suspect in Saturday’s shooting was killed by Secret Service agents after he opened fire at a security checkpoint near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Per NPR, the shooting marked the third incident of gunfire near the president in the last month.
The suspect was identified as Nasire Best. He was previously arrested last summer after attempting to enter a separate checkpoint at the White House.
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