Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Online rumors sparked by the Trump assassination attempt spread rapidly, on both ends of the political spectrum

Donald Trump taken off stage by Secret Service

A bloodied Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents.

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Tomson is research manager for the Center for an Informed Public and the University of Washington. Haughey and Prochaska are graduate research assistants and the Center for an Informed Public.

In the immediate hours after the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, social media users posted the same videos, images and eyewitness accounts but used them as evidence for different rumors or theories that aligned with their political preferences.

Among the deluge of rumors, one TikTok creator narrated the instantly iconic photo of Trump raising his fist, ear bloodied as he emerged from the Secret Service scrum. “People are wondering if this photo is staged?” His answer: “Yes.”

People across the political spectrum, including President Joe Biden, questioned why the Secret Service had failed to prevent the attack. But then some people took this critique further. An influencer on the social media platform X posted an aerial photo and asked how an armed assailant could make it to an unsecured rooftop, concluding, “This reeks of an inside job.”


As researchers  who study  misinformation at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, we have seen groups of people coming together during previous crises to make sense of what is going on by providing evidence and interpreting it through different political or cultural lenses called frames. This is part of a dynamic process scholars call collective sensemaking.

Spreading rumors is a part of this process and a natural human response to crisis events. Rumors, regardless of their accuracy, help people assign meaning and explain an uncertain or scary unfolding reality. Politics and identity help determine which frames people use to interpret and characterize evidence in a crisis. Some political operatives and activists may try to influence these frames to score points toward their goals.

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, our rapid response research team observed rumors unfolding across social media platforms. We saw three politically coded frames emerge across the spectrum:

  • claiming the event was staged
  • criticizing the Secret Service often by blaming Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives
  • suggesting the shooting was an inside job

‘It was staged’

On the anti-Trump extreme, a rumor quickly gained traction claiming the shooting was staged for Trump’s political gain, though this has slowed as more evidence emerged about the shooter. One creator questioned if the audience were crisis actors because they did not disperse quickly enough after the shooting. Others pointed to Trump’s history with World Wrestling Entertainment and reality television, suggesting he had cut himself for dramatic effect like pro wrestlers. Entertainment professionals weighed in, saying Trump had used fake blood packets found in Hollywood studios.

The staged rumor resonated with a conspiratorial frame we’ve seen people use to process crisis events, such as accusations of a false flag event or crisis actors being used to facilitate a political victory.

Secret Service failings

On social and mainstream media, we saw questioning across the political spectrum of how the Secret Service failed to protect a presidential candidate. Many compared videos of the Secret Service’s swift reaction to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, suggesting their reaction with Trump was slower.

However, some politicized this frame further, blaming DEI for the Secret Service’s failure. The claim is that efforts to increase the number of women in the Secret Service led to unqualified agents working on Trump’s security detail.

Blaming DEI is a common and increasingly used trope on social media, recently seen in rumors following the Baltimore bridge collapse and the Boeing whistleblower crisis. Pro-Trump creators shared images critical of female Secret Service agents juxtaposed against celebrated images of male service members. This is a framing we expect to continue to see.

Adjacent to this critique framing, a rumor took hold among pro-Trump communities that the Secret Service had rejected Trump’s additional security requests, which the GOP had been investigating — a claim the Secret Service has denied. This narrative was further fueled by recent proposed legislation calling for the removal of Trump’s Secret Service protection if he were sentenced to prison following a conviction for a felony.

‘It was an inside job’

Highlighting many of the same critiques and questions of how the shooter could get to an unsecured rooftop, other influencers suggested the shooting must have been an inside job. In retweeting a popular pro-Trump influencer, Elon Musk speculated that the mistake was either “incompetence” or “deliberate.” A popular post on X – formerly Twitter – tried to make sense of how a 20-year-old could outsmart the Secret Service and concluded by insinuating the failure was potentially intentional.

These inside job speculations are similar to the rumor that the shooting was staged – though they emerged slightly later – and they align with claims of false flag operations in previous crisis events.

Rumor-spreading is human nature

As the crisis recedes in time, rumors are likely to persist and people are likely to adjust their frames as new evidence emerges – all part of the collective sensemaking process. Some frames we’ve identified in this event are likely to also evolve, like political critiques of the Secret Service. Some are likely to dissipate, like the rumor that the shooting was staged.

This is a natural social process that everyone participates in as we apply our political and social values to rapidly shifting information environments in order to make sense of our realities. When there are intense emotions and lots of ambiguity, most people make mistakes as they try to find out what’s going on.

Getting caught up in conspiracy theorizing after a tragedy – whether it’s for political, social or even entertainment reasons – is a common human response. What’s important to remember is that in the process of collective sensemaking, people with agendas other than determining and communicating accurate information may engage in framing that suits their interests and objectives. These can include foreign adversaries, political operatives, social media influencers and scammers. Some might continue to share false rumors or spin salacious narratives for gain.

It’s important not to scold each other for sharing rumors, but rather help each other understand the social dynamics and contexts of how and why rumors emerge. Recognizing how people’s political identities are intentionally exploited – and even just incidentally make people susceptible – to spread false rumors may help them become more resilient to these forces.The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More

True Confessions of an AI Flip Flopper
Ai technology, Artificial Intelligence. man using technology smart robot AI, artificial intelligence by enter command prompt for generates something, Futuristic technology transformation.
Getty Images - stock photo

True Confessions of an AI Flip Flopper

A few years ago, I would have agreed with the argument that the most important AI regulatory issue is mitigating the low probability of catastrophic risks. Today, I’d think nearly the opposite. My primary concern is that we will fail to realize the already feasible and significant benefits of AI. What changed and why do I think my own evolution matters?

Discussion of my personal path from a more “safety” oriented perspective to one that some would label as an “accelerationist” view isn’t important because I, Kevin Frazier, have altered my views. The point of walking through my pivot is instead valuable because it may help those unsure of how to think about these critical issues navigate a complex and, increasingly, heated debate. By sharing my own change in thought, I hope others will feel welcomed to do two things: first, reject unproductive, static labels that are misaligned with a dynamic technology; and, second, adjust their own views in light of the wide variety of shifting variables at play when it comes to AI regulation. More generally, I believe that calling myself out for a so-called “flip-flop” may give others more leeway to do so without feeling like they’ve committed some wrong.

Keep ReadingShow less
People on their phones. ​

In order to achieve scale, many civic efforts must also reach Americans as media consumers, where Americans currently spend much more time.

Getty Images, Xavier Lorenzo

Reaching Americans As Media Consumers – Not Only As Participants – To Improve the Political Environment

Current efforts to improve how Americans think and feel about those across the political spectrum overwhelmingly rely on participation. Participation usually involves interpersonal interaction, mostly to have dialogues or to collectively work on a project together.

These can be valuable, but in order to achieve scale, many efforts must also reach Americans as media consumers, where Americans currently spend much more time.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scams Targeting Immigrants Take Advantage of Fears of Immigration Status and Deportation

Scam incoming call alert screen on mobile phone.

Getty Images/Stock Photo

Scams Targeting Immigrants Take Advantage of Fears of Immigration Status and Deportation

WASHINGTON–When my phone rang and I saw the familiar DC area code, I picked up, and a man with a slight Indian accent said: “Ma’am, this is the Indian Embassy.”

Expecting a response from the Indian Embassy for an article I was working on, I said, “Is this in regards to my media inquiry?” He said no. He was calling about a problem with my Indian passport. I asked who he called, and when he said a name I didn’t recognize, I informed him he had the wrong person and hung up, figuring it was a scam.

Keep ReadingShow less
The American Schism in 2025: The New Cultural Revolution

A street vendor selling public domain Donald Trump paraphernalia and souvenirs. The souvenirs are located right across the street from the White House and taken on the afternoon of July 21, 2019 near Pennslyvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

Getty Images, P_Wei

The American Schism in 2025: The New Cultural Revolution

A common point of bewilderment today among many of Trump’s “establishment” critics is the all too tepid response to Trump’s increasingly brazen shattering of democratic norms. True, he started this during his first term, but in his second, Trump seems to relish the weaponization of his presidency to go after his enemies and to brandish his corrupt dealings, all under the Trump banner (e.g. cyber currency, Mideast business dealings, the Boeing 747 gift from Qatar). Not only does Trump conduct himself with impunity but Fox News and other mainstream media outlets barely cover them at all. (And when left-leaning media do, the interest seems to wane quickly.)

Here may be the source of the puzzlement: the left intelligentsia continues to view and characterize MAGA as a political movement, without grasping its transcendence into a new dominant cultural order. MAGA rose as a counter-establishment partisan drive during Trump’s 2016 campaign and subsequent first administration; however, by the 2024 election, it became evident that MAGA was but the eye of a full-fledged cultural shift, in some ways akin to Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

Keep ReadingShow less