A flood of misinformation, conspiracy theories and false claims about the shooting at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents' Association dinner spread online at a notable and concerningly speedy rate, mostly about the baseless theory that the incident had been staged.
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The speculation on social media began to swirl within minutes of the first reports of shots fired, picking up steam throughout Sunday despite journalists — the vast majority of the gala’s attendees — and authorities quickly releasing verified and evidence-backed information about the suspected shooter.
There is no evidence that Saturday night’s incident was staged. Authorities have released ample evidence thatCole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, rushed the event while armed and was stopped by law enforcement. A senior administration official said Allen’s brother told authorities that Cole Allenhad sent him and other family members writingsdisplaying anti-Trump sentiment prior to incident.
Even the president, long known for distributing conspiracy theories online, took note of the speed.
“Usually it takes a little bit longer,” President Trump said in an interview with CBS's “60 Minutes” on Sunday. “Usually they wait about two or three months to start saying that.”
This time, it was less than two or three hours. The response highlights how conspiracy theories and a knee-jerk skepticism of current events have become the default response fora growing number of Americans, deepened by the loss of trust in institutions and supercharged by starkly partisan politics.
“I would have been surprised if they hadn’t developed because we’re in a society that is absolutely saturated with conspiracism,” Michael Barkun, professor emeritus in the political science department at Syracuse University, said of the theories.
On Reddit, many of the platform’s most popular posts about the incident — including many in communities not dedicated to politics — either directly or indirectly poked at the idea that it had been staged, while comment sections were rife with the sensibility that believing anything else was naive. On Instagram, many posts from people arguing or theorizing that Trump or the White House had something to do with the situation drew thousands of engagements. On X, the word “staged” trended Saturday night and much of Sunday alongside “Butler,” a reference to the assassination attempt on Trump in that Pennsylvania city that has been the subject of similar conspiracy theories.
It did not appear that many high-profile Democratic politicians had engaged with the theories, while some on therightandleftcriticized the wild speculation.
Source: Drudge Report
