Conspiracy theories are swirling about the shooting of White House Correspondents
On Saturday evening, a room full of reporters, media anchors, and senior members of Donald Trump’s administration erupted into chaos as shots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. No one was hurt, and the suspect was taken into custody – but it didn’t take long for the suspicious story to catch on online.
There is no evidence that the WHCD attack was carried out – but the plots are consistent with the growing belief held even by Trump loyalists that the president is faking an assassination attempt. Many people on the Internet seem to strongly believe that this attack is just the latest iteration.
On X, Threads, Bluesky, and Reddit, suggestions that the shooting was planted began to circulate almost immediately. The innocuous clips were circulated as evidence that the shooting was recorded, or that officials knew about it in advance. In another clip that has been viewed 5.7 million times and shared by a liberal “political analyst,” a Fox News reporter calls the network and explains that at a dinner, press secretary Caroline Leavitt’s husband leaned over and said, “You need to be very safe.” The phone rang as he was about to elaborate on the conversation.
Live callers losing connection happen occasionally during TV broadcasts, but here it was evidence of a conspiracy: “HOLY SH*T,” a video post on X read. “Fox News recently terminated one of its reporters as it appeared the shooting was a premeditated false flag.”
A pre-event interview with Leavitt similarly made the rounds after dinner. In the interview, he promised to “get a shot” during Trump’s speech – a common phrase on any other day, but under these circumstances used to arouse suspicion, as if he had prior knowledge.
Around the same time, other MAGA attendees began tweeting on X that the event had lax security, describing an “uncomfortable feeling” and “something wrong.” The event was held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC, and The Washington Post reported that the Secret Service was tasked with protecting the ballroom where the dinner took place, as well as the surrounding perimeter – not the entire hotel, which is reportedly open to other guests. The suspected gunman, Cole Allen, was stopped by staff before he could reach the ballpark. Authorities said Allen was from Los Angeles, was staying at the Hilton Hotel where the event was held, and that there were “certain documents” indicating that Allen was targeting officers. Social media accounts including X and Bluesky profiles believed to be linked to Allen contained posts critical of Trump and journalists attending WHCD, according to the BBC..
On Sunday, Trump sat down for an interview 60 Minutes to discuss the attack. He was taking turns making jokes insulting the reporter but one of them was cut off and spread to X.
“[The shooter’s] the speed was unbelievable, in fact, it was like a blur,” Trump said. “I think the NFL should sign him, he was fast,” Trump continued. It was a joke, but some commentators caught on to it.
“Trump knew he was fast when he cast him to do this part,” another account responded.
It didn’t help quell the conspiracy that shortly after the incident, Trump used the attempted attack as an excuse to build his own soccer field at the White House.
“This event could not have happened with the Military Top Secret Ballroom being built at the White House,” he wrote in a recent Truth Social post. “It can’t be built fast enough!”
Earlier, some former Trump supporters expressed doubts about the 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania, attempt to assassinate the president. Intellectuals such as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and broadcaster Tim Dillon have raised concerns, and former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent said the shooting was not fully investigated. No evidence of a planned attack has emerged.
The leaders of the right-wing conspiracy also said that the violence against the politicians of the Democratic Alliance was organized. In 2018, after pipe bombs were sent to prominent Democrats including Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton, some right-wing activists and other mainstream pundits described it as a “false flag operation” by the left to make Republicans look bad ahead of the midterm elections. Alex Jones as recently as last week also said that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged.
