President Donald Trump has branded individuals who believe the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was staged as 'sick.' The incident occurred on Saturday night as the president attended the event for the first time since 2011. Baseless speculation about whether the shooting, which follows two assassination attempts against Trump in 2024, was staged spread rapidly on social media.
The term 'staged' appeared in more than 300,000 posts on X by midday Sunday, according to TweetBinder. When asked on CBS News' 60 Minutes about the conspiracy theories, Trump initially claimed he had not heard about the online speculation.
'I think they're more sick than they are con people,' Trump said, referring to the conspiracy theorists. 'But there's a lot of con in there too.' He added that suggestions the shooting was staged were a 'tough sell.'
During the interview, 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O'Donnell also asked about conspiracy theories surrounding the attempt on Trump's life during a rally in Pennsylvania in 2024. Trump responded by listing conspiracy theories about other major world events, including false claims that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 'didn't happen.' He added that some people believe 'World War II didn't happen and the Holocaust didn't happen, and many things didn't happen.'
Professor Cliff Lampe of the University of Michigan explained to The New York Times that people are not 'looking for good information' but rather 'confirmatory information,' often diving deep into rabbit holes of side-by-side pictures and microshots of the president's face.
The president, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Cabinet members were rushed out of the Washington Hilton ballroom as security agents apprehended the shooter near a security checkpoint. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, has been arrested in connection with the incident. Police said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, confirmed Allen's arraignment is set for 1 p.m. Monday on charges of using a firearm during a violent crime and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
