WASHINGTON, April 28 — A flood of misinformation exploded online after US President Donald Trump escaped a weekend shooting scare, fuelling renewed – and unfounded – claims...
US President Donald Trump arrives on the last day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024. — AFP pic!
Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply. WASHINGTON, April 28 — A flood of misinformation exploded online after US President Donald Trump escaped a weekend shooting scare, fuelling renewed – and unfounded – claims that he has staged assassination attempts to boost his political fortunes.
Trump and his top administration officials were evacuated Saturday from a media gala in Washington after gunfire erupted outside the ballroom, marking the third assassination attempt targeting the Republican in two years. AFP’s fact-checkers identified a series of social media posts from anti-Trump accounts circulating an unsubstantiated theory that the White House staged the shooting to distract attention from unfavourable news, including the unpopular US-Israeli war with Iran.
Posts advancing the claim garnered 80 million views on Elon Musk’s platform X alone within two days of the shooting, according to the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard. Many of the same accounts previously claimed that two assassination attempts on Trump in 2024 – in Pennsylvania and Florida – were also staged. The narrative largely emanated from a left-wing conspiracy movement that researchers call “BlueAnon,” a play on the right-wing Qanon cult.
“Many of the anti-Trump accounts baselessly claiming that the WHCD shooting was staged made identical claims after the 2024 assassination attempts,” NewsGuard’s Sofia Rubinson told AFP. “Some viral posts we’ve seen explicitly cite those earlier incidents as ‘evidence’ that staging shootings is part of Trump’s play book – to generate sympathy and distract from unfavourable coverage.
” In this photo illustration, a phone shows US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post on the death of actor and director Rob Reiner in Washington on December 15, 2025. — AFP picFast-developing breaking news events such as shootings often trigger a frantic search for new information on social media, frequently allowing falsehoods to spread and intensifying online confusion.
The White House on Monday blamed what it called a “left-wing cult of hatred” for the shooting and a 31-year-old suspect, Cole Allen, faces a potential life sentence if convicted of attempting to kill Trump. Following Saturday’s shooting, state media in US adversaries – Russia and Iran – amplified further conspiracy theories, including claims that the attacker had ties to the Israeli military, according to the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
In recent weeks, a growing number of MAGA influencers – shorthand for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – have also promoted the conspiracy theory that the Republican had staged the 2024 assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. The trend underscores how Americans on both sides of the political divide are prone to outlandish conspiracy theories, as many turn to partisan influencers for information amid mistrust of mainstream media, researchers say.
Turning Point USA CEO and chair Erika Kirk and US rapper Nicki Minaj arrive on stage during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix on December 21, 2025. — AFP pic“The staged assassination conspiracy theory has advocates on the left, particularly among liberal content creators. It’s also starting to take off on the right as they lose faith in Trump,” Mike Rothschild, a researcher who studies conspiracy theories, told AFP.
“The theory casts him as a master manipulator,” he said. “And it uses as ‘evidence’ either misconceptions, other viral videos, or things that people have just made up. ” The theory has gained traction as Trump faces backlash from Americans across the political spectrum – including segments of his MAGA supporters – over the war with Iran, which has driven up oil prices and raised concerns about American casualties.
The military campaign has laid bare divisions within Trump’s political base, with even long-time conservative supporters – such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson – condemning the Republican’s departure from his non-interventionist policy. The conspiracy theory continues to spread largely unchecked online, as many tech platforms have scaled back content moderation efforts that were once used to curb disinformation.
Influencers are often incentivised to amplify sensational rumours, which can attract followers and increase earnings on revenue-sharing platforms like X. “The more irresistible the claim the better in terms of the business of political commentary. The actual politics of a party is now secondary to the monetization of the political brand,” Walter Scheirer of the University of Notre Dame told AFP.
White House US-Israeli War Blueanon Cole Allen Institute For Strategic Dialogue
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