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On Saturday evening, a room full of journalists, media personalities, and senior members of Donald Trump’s administration descended into chaos as gunshots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Nobody was hurt, and the suspect was taken into custody — but it didn’t take long for a narrative of doubt to take hold online.
There is no evidence that the attack at the WHCD was staged — but the conspiracies echo an increasingly common belief held even by some former Trump loyalists that the president is faking assassination attempts. Many people online appear to earnestly believe this attack is just the latest iteration.
On X, Threads, Bluesky, and Reddit, suggestions that the shooting was planted began circulating almost immediately. Clips that otherwise would be innocuous were circulated as proof the shooting was scripted, or that officials had knowledge of it ahead of time. In one clip viewed 5.7 million times and shared by a liberal “political commentator,” a Fox News reporter calls into the network and describes how at the dinner, press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s husband leaned over to her and told her, “You need to be very safe.” The call drops as she is about to elaborate on the conversation.
Live callers losing connection happens occasionally during TV broadcasts, but here it became evidence for a conspiracy: “HOLY SH*T,” an X post of the video reads. “Fox News just cut one of their reporters off as they seemed to indicate the shooting was a pre-planned false flag.”
A pre-event interview with Leavitt similarly made the rounds after the dinner. In the interview, she promised there would be “shots fired” during Trump’s speech — a common turn of phrase on any other day, but which under these circumstances was used to stir up suspicion, as if she had prior knowledge.
Related Trump turns the WHCD shooting into a pitch for the White House ballroom
At the same time, some MAGA-aligned attendees began posting on X that the event had lax security, describing having an “uneasy feeling” and that “something felt off.” The event was held at a Hilton hotel in Washington, DC, and The Washington Post reported that Secret Service was tasked with securing the ballroom the dinner was taking place in, plus the immediate perimeter of it — not the entire hotel, which was reportedly open to other guests. The suspected gunman, Cole Allen, was stopped by agents before he made it to the ballroom. Authorities said Allen had traveled from Los Angeles, had been staying at the Hilton hotel where the event was being held, and that there were “some writings” indicating Allen was targeting officials. Social media accounts including X and Bluesky profiles believed to be connected with Allen contained posts critical of Trump and reporters attending the WHCD, according to The BBC.
On Sunday, Trump sat for an interview with 60 Minutes to discuss the attack. He alternately made jokes and insulted the reporter, but one comment was clipped and circulated on X.
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