Conspiracy theories are already running rampant online in the hours following the shooting that derailed former President Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. And they are coming from the left.
Trump was escorted off the stage by the Secret Service and was seen giving the crowd a fist pump as blood covered one ear and part of the side of his face. According to reports, he was struck by glass from the teleprompter, which was hit by a bullet.
His spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement shared on X that Trump "is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility."
It was not immediately clear how many other rally attendees may have been struck during the shooting.
In the hours since the shooting, a storm of conspiracy theories flooded the internet, with Trump critics claiming without evidence that the incident was staged by his campaign.
One such claim garnered 26,000 likes and nearly 500,000 views before the poster took it down.
"I wouldn't put it past Donald Trump to stage an assassination attempt on himself," the since-deleted post stated. The user has since pinned a post saying that "political violence is never okay."
But quote tweets echoing the sentiment are still live, including from one person who agreed: "It’s the first thought I had."
"Sorry but I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump staged an attempted assassination as a campaign stunt," someone else said in a separate post.
Other Trump critics were quick to espouse the same conspiracy, prompting "staged" to become the second trending topic on X, just behind "Trump."
"It looks very staged. Sounded like a BB gun," claimed one person in a viral post that has racked up 1.2 million views. "Nobody in the crowd is running or panicking. Nobody in that crowd heard an actual gun. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust him."
"LOL that’s so staged," echoed another person. "If there was a shooter, the whole crowd would disperse."
In reality, however, video of the incident shows the scene unfolding quickly—but people in the crowd still screamed and ducked down.
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Penn.), who was in the front row at the rally, told Fox News he heard 8-10 shots fired and believed multiple people in the crowd may have been hit.
Video shows the alleged perpetrator being pulled away. Reports indicate that they were killed.
Nonetheless, conspiracy theories from some of Trump's critics continued to proliferate online, with many pointing at Trump's triumphant fist pump as proof.
"Fist bump at the end tells this was staged AF," said one person.
"THIS IS THE MOST STAGED SHIT I’VE EVER SEEN," wrote another account. "AN *ACTIVE SHOOTER* AND SECRET SERVICE JUST ALLOWS HIM TO STAND BACK UP FOR A FUCKING *FIST UP*?! THE CROWD JUST SITS BACK DOWN?? CROWD JUST SMILES AND TAKES PICTURES??? WTF"
"I’m gonna be so real and say this but that shit looked staged," echoed another poster. "No way they missed with that many shots and just nicked his ear? And then the fist pump and all the pictures of him with the flag. This is propaganda"
Another user theorized it was a "paintball attack," baselessly alleging "it’s clearly theatrical blood that use for movies."
But while claims of the shooting being staged to score political points circulated on social media, so too did replies condemning the baseless conspiracy.
"Those alleging that someone shooting at Trump today was 'staged' with zero evidence are loathsome, disgusting people who play a big role in tearing this country apart," wrote political commentator Ana Kasparian. "Imagine providing cover for horrific political violence. Beyond shameful."
Concluded someone else: "the people saying staged are the biggest morons of all time."
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