There have already been a number of attempts to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump throughout the 16 months of his second term so far, yet some aren't quite as convinced by the last attack as hundreds of thousands of posts on X claim it to be 'staged'.
31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen was arrested at the scene after he allegedly started firing into a security screening area on the floor above the main dining area, and various political officials were swiftly evacuated out of the venue.
Erika Kirk's now-public teary exit was joined by key figures like Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and President Donald Trump was also there in an appearance that broke his absentee record maintained throughout his first and second terms.
Only two individuals were injured following the attack with no reported deaths, but many on social media are seemingly convinced that it was all an elaborate hoax that was 'staged' to seem like a threat to the president's life.
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This isn't the first time that such conspiracies have surfaced – as many also believe the same is true for the July 2024 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania that left the president's ear bloodied.
As reported by the Independent, data from TweetBinder has indivated that over 300,000 posts on X included the words 'staged' by midday on Sunday — and comments from people like Dana White claiming the incident to be 'awesome' certainly haven't helped dispel these claims.
While Trump himself has professed that he 'wasn't worried' about the threat – adding further ammunition to conspiracy theorists – he has hit out against the claims in a new interview with 60 Minutes that many have watched with close attention.
The interview – where he also denied allegations that he was a rapist and a pedophile – saw Trump call anyone peddling the conspiracy 'sick' as he wholeheartedly shut down the claims.
"I don't know, I think they're more sick than they are con people," the president proclaimed. "I haven't heard that last night didn't happen, it usually takes a little bit longer, usually they wait about two or three months to start saying that," he added.
He also suggested that the same people pushing this particular conspiracy claim that the October 7 attacks in Israel, World War 2, and even the Holocaust didn't happen.
This conspiracy has also been pushed by infamous hacking group Anonymous, who claimed the attack to be orchestrated in a response to Elon Musk, who was using it to further a political narrative himself.