How conspiracy theories circulated after Donald Trump’s shooting

“Staging”.

Minutes after the news broke about Assassination attempt against former President Donald TrumpThis word was trending on X in the United States.

It’s a word that has become synonymous with conspiracy theories on the fringes of social media, often to cast doubt on an attack or shooting. But in the past 24 hours, it has invaded mainstream online conversations, and posts filled with unproven speculation, hate and insults have racked up millions of views on X.

Assassination attempts against American presidents Events that have previously sparked conspiracy theories are particularly famous, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. It was the first to unfold in real time, so it’s no surprise that unfounded rumors have flourished.

But what is striking is how this frenzy has touched all sides of the political spectrum.

The post wasn’t limited to engaged groups of political sympathizers. Instead, it was actively recommended in the “For You” feeds of users trying to understand what had happened. And it was often posted by users who had purchased blue checkmarks, giving their posts greater visibility.

As always, conspiracy theories sometimes started with legitimate questions and confusion. focused on alleged security breacheswith many users naturally wondering how this could have happened.

How did the attacker manage to reach the roof? Why wasn’t he arrested?

Into this void rushed a wave of disbelief, speculation and misinformation.

“This seems very staged,” reads one post on X, which has been viewed a million times. “No one in the crowd is running or panicking. No one in the crowd heard a real gun. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust him.”

The profile says it is located on the southwest coast of Ireland. It has since been tagged with an X-rated rating indicating the shooting was real.

Once more footage and testimonies From both inside and outside the gathering, the panic and fear of the participants became more than clear.

The conspiracies have been compounded by the extraordinary images that have emerged since those initial videos. In particular, a widely praised photo taken by the Associated Press’s chief photographer in Washington, Evan Vucci, showing Trump with his fist raised, blood on his face and ear, with the American flag in the background.

A US-based YouTube account said the photo was just “too perfect” and described how they had “positioned the flag perfectly and everything”. The post on X reached nearly a million views – but was later deleted by the person who shared it. It’s important to correct yourself if you make a mistake, they said in another post.

Others have pointed out that at the moment the shots were fired, Trump raised his hand on stage. They used this fact to suggest that the event was staged when there was no evidence to suggest this.

“A setup to get sympathy? These people can’t be trusted and no, I’m not praying for him,” wrote another US-based commenter.

Most of the most viral posts, including this one, come from left-leaning users who regularly share their anti-Trump views. They already had hundreds of thousands of followers before today, and therefore considerable reach.

What happened on X is straight out of the pages of a conspiracy theory textbook, polished on social media by committed activists who deny the reality of almost everything, including the Covid pandemic, wars, mass shootings and terrorist attacks.

A post from a US-based account known for sharing unfounded allegations like this one wrote: “This is the price you pay when you eliminate elite satanic pedophiles.”

They were referring to QAnon conspiracy theorysuggesting that Trump is waging a secret war against a deep state – a shadowy coalition of security and intelligence services, hidden in plain sight, seeking to thwart his every move.

Without any evidence to support this hypothesis, they then suggested that the “order” for the assassination “probably came from the CIA” and accused Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence of being involved. There is no evidence to support this hypothesis, but the post has been viewed 4.7 million times.

It’s a familiar pattern, but the real change is in how widely this type of jargon is being used by average social media users. It’s not just those who dislike Trump and suggest this whole thing was staged, but also those who support him and claim it’s part of a larger conspiracy theory.

Elected politicians also got involved. Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, said that “Joe Biden sent the orders.” He referred to a comment President Biden made earlier in the week about hit “Trump on the bullseye”referring to their electoral battle.

It is legitimate to question some of the language used to describe Trump by other politicians and the media, as well as on the Internet, which some Trump supporters believe inflamed tensions and contributed to this assassination attempt. But to suggest that this was ordered by President Biden is another hypothesis entirely.

Collins’ post has been viewed more than 6 million times on X, but has since been labeled with a community note, which says there is no evidence that Mr Biden was involved in any way. She added that her “bullseye” remark was taken out of context.

Incorrect attempts to identify the shooter have fueled the various stories devoid of evidence.

Before the FBI named the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20who was shot by the secret service, other people’s reputations were ruined.

Like football commentator Marco Violi, who posted on Instagram in the middle of the night from Italy to say he had seen the completely false allegations that he was a member of Antifa – a loose association of mainly far-left activists – and was behind the attack. The false allegations had been viewed millions of times on X by the time he tried to set the record straight on Instagram.

On X, activists and political sympathizers quickly retreated into their own echo chambers, reading posts recommended by the site’s algorithm and confirming what they already thought. The rest of us scrambled to avoid this pit of conspiracies and speculation.

It was a test for Elon Musk’s new Twitter — and it’s hard to say the site passed with flying colors.

Other social media sites were not flooded in the same way, perhaps because of their target audience and X’s reputation as a hotbed of political discourse.

X did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

What happened at the Trump rally? Listen to it last episode of Americast on BBC Sounds.