Shortly after former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, social media was abuzz with trolls claiming the shooting was “staged.”
On X, conspiracy theorists dismissed the attempted murder on Trump’s life as a campaign ploy.
In the wake of the shooting, the word “staged” became the second most popular topic on the app after “Trump.”
“Trump’s shooting was totally orchestrated” One user wrote“He kept looking in that direction. Obviously, there’s no way that somebody capable of firing that shot would miss if they were trying to kill him. Then he stood up and put his hands up. If this was real, he would have wet his trousers.”
According to law enforcement sources, Trump was shot by a sniper while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday night, leaving him with an abrasion on his ear.
The former president escaped safely, but one rally attendee was killed and another seriously injured.
After his injury, Trump pumped his fist into the crowd as Secret Service and local police tried to escort him off the stage, a scene that supporters called symbolic but seemed hard to believe to some trolls and skeptics.
“This is such a perfect photo that I can’t believe it’s not staged. This is the best photo I’ve taken in the last 10 years. It’s absolutely stunning.” Someone tweeted.
One user posted a photo of Trump with blood running down his face, was suggested It may have been a “paintball attack.”
Another allegation was that Trump “bladed” – a professional wrestling term meaning to intentionally injure oneself for effect – when a Secret Service agent tackled him in an attempt to take cover. Called out shooting Part of the “WWE Ass Script.”
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“You can’t take that many bullets and just a scratch on your ear, and then there are all these photos of him with his fist raised and the flag in the air. This is propaganda.” Another user wrote.
“It’s over now.” One woman said“Whether this was staged or not, this will give Trump a major political boost at a time when the Democratic Party is in complete disarray.”
Far-right commentator Tim Pool slammed those who claim the shooting was a hoax.
“Direction is the trend.” He said“They scream that Trump is Hitler, they riot and destroy, and then they claim their attacks are fake.”
The word “delete” also trended in the aftermath of the shooting, with users calling on conspiracy theorists and Democratic politicians to delete their tweets about the shooting.
Trump was rushed to a local hospital for treatment and confirmed to be safe and in good health.
“I heard a whoosh, a gunshot and felt the bullets penetrate my skin so I knew straight away something was wrong,” he said in a statement. “I was bleeding profusely and it became clear immediately what was happening.”
A Secret Service assault team shot and killed the gunman.
