- The posts came shortly after video showed Trump lying wounded in front of a crowd.
- Police said one person was killed and another was injured.
It only took a few minutes for Donald Trump’s trolls to publish conspiracy theories that his shooting was “staged” to boost his electoral prospects.
The first posts appeared shortly after officers removed Trump from the scene of his Pennsylvania rally, with shocking photographic images showing blood on the right side of his face, and some shocking images even showing a projectile making its way toward his ear.
By Sunday night, hours after the shooting, “organized” was the fourth most popular search term on Google, after Trump, Secret Service and Antifa, before law enforcement confirmed the identity of the suspected shooter.
Some X users posted their theories about Trump’s defiant post-shooting images. ‘This is such a perfect photo it’s hard to believe it’s not staged. Photo of the decade. Absolutely incredible.’
“Do you think Trump’s shooting was staged?” asked one X user Shortly after the incident.
Blood is seen coming out of Donald Trump’s ear where he said he was shot. Online trolls claimed the event was staged immediately after it happened
“If you don’t believe this was all a farce, look at how quickly Trump was removed from there for simply mentioning that someone in the crowd had a gun in 2016. Then look at this nonsense.” wrote Another user with nearly 2,000 followers, based on the Secret Service’s quick response to the incident.
Another user couldn’t believe Trump’s response to the attack.
‘The shot that was fired at Trump was completely staged. He kept looking in that direction. Obviously, someone capable of taking that shot wouldn’t miss if they intended to kill him. Then he stood up and raised his hand. He would have shit his pants if this had been real. Staged.’
“Repost if you think this was planned,” wrote another user whose username was simply Brittney.
The identities of the accounts trolling Trump could not immediately be confirmed.
At a news conference Sunday night, Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, called the shooting an “attempted murder.”
“This afternoon, we had what we call an attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump. It’s still an active crime scene,” he told reporters.
Trump made a defiant gesture with a clenched fist moments after he was shot, as Secret Service agents surrounded him to block him from other potential threats. He shouted “fight, fight, fight” to his supporters.
Some Trump allies were quick to claim that surviving what the FBI called an assassination attempt would help him.
“President Trump survives this attack; he just won the election,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) told Politico.