Barnett’s 14th Amendment post draws backlash after April 27 X remark

Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett drew backlash after his April 27 X post linking Barack Obama to the 14th amendment and the alleged White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter, Cole Tomas Allen. Barnett wrote, “If Obama had a son, he’d attack the White House Correspondents Dinner like Cole Allen.” Social media users called for his immediate termination.

April 27 X Post

Barnett, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown, posted almost two days after the April 25 shooting at the Washington Hilton. The remark echoed Obama’s 2012 line, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” and tied it to a 31-year-old Californian authorities identified as Cole Tomas Allen.

Authorities said Allen breached a Secret Service checkpoint leading to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. They charged him in federal court on April 27 with three counts, including trying to assassinate the president. The dinner was attended by President Donald Trump, Melania, and most of Trump’s top administration officials.

Georgetown Pressure

The post landed amid sharper Republican rhetoric after the shooting. In a press briefing after the attack, Trump said “all Americans to recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully. We have to resolve our differences.”

Trump added in a Sunday interview on “60 Minutes” that “the hate speech of the Democrats, much more so, is very dangerous.” Barnett’s comparison pulled his classroom role into that argument and put Georgetown under immediate pressure from critics demanding his removal.

Cole Allen Charges

Allen’s federal case moves ahead separately from Barnett’s online post, but the two became linked in public debate because Barnett named him directly. The charge of trying to assassinate the president places the shooting in a criminal case already in motion, while Barnett’s remark now sits at the center of the reaction around it.