Attempted assassination of Donald Trump

On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, a former president of the United States and the Republican Party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election, survived an assassination attempt while addressing a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear by Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who fired eight rounds with an AR-15–style rifle from the roof of a building located approximately 400 ft from the stage. Crooks killed audience member Corey Comperatore and critically injured two other audience members. Crooks was subsequently shot and killed by the U.S. Secret Service's counter-sniper team.

Trump was immediately shielded by Secret Service and taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released in stable condition. Video footage showed Trump clasping his ear and later pumping his fist in the air and shouting “Fight!” as he was escorted off the stage by Secret Service personnel. Photojournalist Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured images of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air that went viral on social media. Trump made his first public appearance after the shooting two days later at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In the aftermath, there has been significant scrutiny on the security arrangements, with criticisms directed at the Secret Service for not adequately securing the rooftop from which the shooter fired. President Joe Biden ordered an independent review of security at the rally. Biden condemned the violence and called for a reduction in heated political rhetoric, emphasizing the importance of resolving political differences peacefully. Lawmakers called for increased security for the major candidates in the election.

Background
At the time of the incident, Donald Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election. The shooting occurred two days before the July 15 start of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the second notable attempt at violence toward Trump during one of his rallies; the first was in 2016, when a man attempted to grab a security officer's gun at a rally outside of Las Vegas.

On July 3, 2024, it was announced that Trump would hold a rally on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in Connoquenessing Township and Meridian, near Butler, Pennsylvania. On July 10, an advance team began setting up for the rally, including the installation of generators in a large open field. The rally was part of the Trump campaign's attempts to garner votes in Pennsylvania, which some polling indicates is a swing state; the state has 19 votes in the Electoral College. David McCormick, the Republican nominee in the state's concurrent U.S. Senate election, was invited to appear onstage during the rally to increase support for his campaign. U.S. Representative Mike Kelly said he had contacted the Trump campaign to recommend holding the rally in an area that could handle a larger crowd than the Butler Farm Show Grounds, and that their response was, "We appreciate your input but we've already made up our minds". Video of the rally indicates that the small venue was more than adequate.

Attendees at Trump rallies are screened for prohibited items, including weapons. The Secret Service routinely screens and monitors nearby buildings and businesses, including structures outside security perimeters. Four separate counter-sniper teams were assigned to the event, two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police, which serves as the law enforcement agency for Connoquenessing Township, were also involved in security matters. Butler Township police were given traffic duties. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had no information about any particular threats before the event. The Secret Service had increased Trump's security detail in prior weeks due to intelligence indicating that Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump, leading the Secret Service to boost security measures prior to the incident. The Acting Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs denied this claim.

PBS is said to have noted that such a serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate of the U.S. has not happened since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.

Shooting
On the day of the assassination attempt, Thomas Matthew Crooks borrowed his father's rifle—a DPMS Panther Arms-produced AR-15–style rifle with a 16 in barrel, chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, effective at the range intended by Crooks, and described by federal officials as an average rifle of its type. He then bought 50 rounds of ammunition from a gun store and purchased a 5 ft ladder before driving to the site of the rally with an explosive device in the trunk of his car. He climbed onto the roof of a building approximately 400 ft north of the venue stage. The building housed three police snipers tasked with covering the rally, but none of them were positioned on the rooftop due to manpower shortages. Crooks did not undergo security screening, as his rooftop location was, according to law enforcement officials, outside the Secret Service's security perimeter for the rally.

Prior to 5:45 p.m. EDT, according to WPXI, a police officer saw Crooks on the ground and reported him, with a photograph, as a suspicious person. An officer searched for Crooks but did not find him. Multiple local law enforcement officers identified Crooks and believed that he might have been acting suspiciously near the event's magnetometers; they expressed their suspicions over the radio, and their radio communications were available to the Secret Service. At 5:45 p.m., a member of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit tactical team saw Crooks on a roof, notified other security services, and photographed Crooks. The officer saw him "scoping out" the rooftop of the building and carrying a golf range finder. Secret Service officers spotted Crooks on the rooftop roughly 20 minutes before the shooting. Reports indicated that several bystanders also witnessed a man on the roof carrying a rifle and alerted the police about him nearly a minute and a half before shots were fired at Trump. Hoisted by another officer, a Butler Township police officer attempted to climb to the roof of the building in search of the reported man. Crooks spotted the officer while the officer's hands were clinging to the edge of the roof and aimed his rifle at the officer, at which point the officer let go, falling 8 ft to the ground and severely injuring his ankle. Crooks undertook the assassination attempt immediately following the confrontation with the officer.

Trump arrived onstage at about 6:03p.m. A few minutes into his speech, at approximately 6:11p.m., Crooks fired eight shots into the rally, injuring Trump and three rallygoers before being killed by a sniper from the Secret Service seconds later. As the shots were heard, rally attendees yelled "Duck!" Two shots were likely fired by law enforcement, one immediately after the shots fired from Crooks, and another 16 seconds later. Secret Service snipers were likely obstructed from being able to see Crooks as he crawled into a firing position due to the slant of the roof that Crooks was on, with the northern sniper team in particular having its line of sight obstructed by trees.

Trump was injured in his upper right ear. He raised a hand to his ear before dropping down on his podium behind the lectern for cover. Secret Service agents lunged toward Trump and shielded him. After about 25 seconds, the assailant was declared "down" and agents helped Trump get up. Blood was visible on his ear and face. He asked the Secret Service agents to let him get on his shoes. According to Trump, the agents "hit me so hard that my shoes fell off". A lipreader stated that Trump said "What? Blood on my face?", indicating that someone told him that he was bleeding. As he was walked off stage, Trump told the Secret Service agents to wait and then raised his fist, pumped it at the crowd, and shouted or mouthed the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!". The crowd responded with cheers and chants of "U-S-A!"

"When I rose surrounded by Secret Service, the crowd was confused because they thought I was dead. And there was great, great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked out. They didn't know I was looking out, they thought it was over. But I could see it, I wanted to do something to let 'em know I was ok. I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, Fight! Fight! Fight!"

- Donald Trump

Trump was then escorted to a vehicle and taken to a nearby hospital.

Trump credited a large chart displaying immigration statistics with saving his life. Immediately before the first shot, he turned his head to his right, toward the chart, and pointed to it. The movement narrowed the profile of Trump's skull toward the direction of the shooter, possibly saving him from a direct gunshot wound to his skull. Trump later said, "If I hadn't pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head."

Victims
Apart from Trump, three men were injured. Corey Comperatore of Sarver, Pennsylvania, was killed. Comperatore, aged 50, worked as a project and tooling engineer and was the former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. According to his family and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, he died while shielding his wife and two daughters from gunfire.

Two other audience members were shot and critically injured. Both were in stable condition on the following day. U.S. representative Ronny Jackson said that a bullet grazed his nephew's neck.

Four police officers who were only feet away from Trump suffered minor injuries from flying debris when the bullets struck objects nearby.

Perpetrator
On July 14, the FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour's drive from the rally venue. Crooks was believed to have acted alone. The rifle Crooks used had been legally purchased by his father, according to law enforcement sources. He had no criminal record. The FBI said that there had been "no indication of any mental health issues" regarding Crooks.

Crooks attended Bethel Park High School and graduated from Community College of Allegheny County two months before the shooting. Crooks worked as a dietary aide in the kitchen of a nearby nursing home. Some people who knew him characterized him as quiet, and a former classmate said he had been bullied "every day" at school for wearing camouflage to class. Most neighbors also described Crooks as quiet and as a "normal person". Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, which has a 200 yard rifle range.

Public records have not given any clear indication of Crooks's views; his political activities are seemingly contradictory, with no known posts on social media websites or writings indicating an ideology. His internet activity prior to the attack included searches related to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting and for other politicians and their events.

Authorities have stated that they do not know what his political views were, or whether the assassination attempt was related to them. He was a registered Republican; his voter registration had been active since September 2021, the month he turned 18. Federal campaign finance records show that on January 20, 2021, when he was 17, Crooks donated $15 to a voter turnout group, the Progressive Turnout Project, through a platform called ActBlue, which is used by Democrats and progressive organizations.

Aftermath
Trump was transported to Butler Memorial Hospital for examination immediately after the shooting. A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed that he was safe. No information about his medical care was given. Trump's motorcade left the hospital at around 9:30 p.m. EDT bound for Pittsburgh International Airport. Trump landed in Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey in the early hours of July 14 and he spent the night at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Security at Trump Tower and the RNC was strengthened after the shooting.

He attended the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 15 with a bandage covering his entire right ear. Several RNC attendees began wearing fake ear bandages during the convention, with a Republican strategist telling the Washington Post "It was truly a surreal moment that people are still processing, and this is a recognizable show of solidarity in a meme-ified political moment." The fad reportedly started with Arizona delegate Joe Neglia, with Neglia stating he made his bandage on the way to Milwaukee after seeing Trump wearing one during his first appearance after the attempt.

The Trump campaign organized a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for the rally goers who were wounded or killed, raising over $2 million by July 14. Comperatore's firefighting uniform, with his name misspelled "Compertore", was brought on stage during Trumps speech at the RNC. Trump kissed Comperatore's helmet. Comperatore's funeral was held the next day on July 19.

Following the shooting, stocks linked to Trump's media and technology interests experienced a significant surge, as well as shares of other companies that could benefit from a Donald Trump presidency, such as cryptocurrency stocks and gun stocks. Trump Media & Technology Group shares soared 31%, lifting its stock market value to $7.7 billion, and major cryptocurrency-related stocks, including Coinbase and bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, saw increases of 11% to 18%. Video-sharing platform Rumble, known for its popularity among conservative viewers, saw its stock price jump 21%. These surges reflect increased investor confidence in Trump's chances of winning the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Investigation
The FBI is leading an investigation with the United States Department of Justice National Security Division, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The incident is being investigated as an assassination attempt, and also as an act of domestic terrorism. Police removed Crooks's corpse from the rooftop. He was carrying no identification. The FBI confirmed his identity via fingerprint biometrics and DNA profiling. Explosives were found at Crooks's home and in the car he used to travel to the rally. A remote transmitter was found in his pocket. Crooks owned two smartphones and at least one laptop.

Soon after the shooting, FBI Laboratory staff performed mobile device forensics on his smartphones, which entails defeating the device's security measures. This, according to an Electronic Frontier Foundation researcher, was probably done using a Cellebrite device or an undisclosed in-house method. They found that Crooks had searched for images of Trump, Biden, and several other public figures, and that he had looked up dates of Trump's rallies and the Democratic National Convention. Investigators found that a post attributed to him was made on the gaming platform Steam, saying "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds." However, it is as yet unknown whether the post was legitimate or not.

Criticism of security arrangements
The Secret Service security detail responsible for protecting the former president during the rally faced criticism for not securing access to the roof of the building from which Crooks committed the shooting. Three police snipers were present in the building, but none were present on the roof or able to cover it. This was attributed to "extremely poor planning" and manpower shortages. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about what they perceived as errors or oversights that exposed Trump to gunfire. The Secret Service stated that it added protective resources to accommodate campaign travel schedules, disputing claims that it did not provide requested extra protection for Trump. Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle admitted that the lapse was "unacceptable". In a reversal, the Secret Service later acknowledged denying requests from the Trump campaign for additional security for the past two years. The requests included additional snipers and special teams for outdoor events.

Several prominent politicians and officials, mostly Republican, argued that DEI hiring by the Biden administration had compromised Secret Service training. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle and female agents serving in Trump's security detail faced scrutiny, especially following the release of footage showing one of the agents struggling to holster her weapon.

President Biden ordered an independent review on the federal security provided by the Secret Service in order to comprehend how the gunman nearly assassinated Trump with a clear view of sight. The findings of this review will be made public. Additionally, Biden instructed the Secret Service to reassess all security protocols for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump was expected to be officially nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidential election on November 5.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was approved to receive Secret Service protection two days after the assassination attempt against Trump. Kennedy had previously sought protection from the Secret Service but was denied by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Kennedy had instead been relying on a private security firm for the duration of his presidential campaign.

According to The New York Times, the law enforcement agencies that assisted the Secret Service that day were: the Pennsylvania State Police, the Butler Township Police Department, the Butler County Sheriff, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the multicounty tactical teams.

Raised fist photographs
Photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press captured widely praised images of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air, surrounded by Secret Service members, with an American flag in the background. The photos quickly spread on social media and television and were widely circulated by Trump's allies, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, family members, and Republican members of Congress. The images were seen as encapsulating strength, resilience, patriotism, Donald Trump himself, the United States, as well as the ongoing culture war in the country.

Reactions
Political scientists, historians, and many Democratic and Republican political figures pointed to the shooting as a consequence of political polarization in the United States. The shooting led to widespread sympathy for Trump on social media, and public figures across the political spectrum both domestically and internationally urged a decrease in tensions, condemning the assassination attempt.

Donald Trump
Soon after being confirmed as safe, Trump released a statement on his own social media platform Truth Social recounting his experience, thanking law enforcement personnel and the Secret Service, and offering condolences to the families of people killed and injured: "I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Domestic


After the shooting, President Joe Biden said: "Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons we have to unite this country... Everybody must condemn it." In a separate statement, he said he was grateful that Trump was safe. Biden also publicly expressed his condolences for Comperatore, hailing his actions as a father. Biden and Trump spoke on the evening of the incident. On July 14, Biden ordered an independent security review of Trump's rally and warned against political violence in an Oval Office address.

House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to open an investigation into the shooting, seeking testimony from federal law enforcement and national security officials. Senate Republicans urged the Democratic-controlled Senate to conduct hearings as well.

Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins called for a Republican prosecutor to charge Biden for inciting an assassination. Republican Senator J. D. Vance—later chosen as Trump's running mate —blamed the Biden campaign's political rhetoric, while Republican Senator Tim Scott blamed messaging by "the radical left and corporate media". Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured in the Congressional baseball shooting, said that Democratic leaders had been fueling "ludicrous hysteria" about Trump and called for the "incendiary rhetoric" to stop. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson for having introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons, including Trump. Jacqueline Marsaw—a member of Thompson's staff—was fired following a social media post that read "I don't condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don't miss next time oops that wasn't me saying that".

Steven Woodrow, a Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives, posted on Twitter in response to the assassination attempt: "The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are." His post was widely criticized, including by the Colorado Democratic Party; Woodrow deleted his account about three hours after his post. Afterward, he told the Washington Examiner that he condemned the shooting "on the strongest terms".

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro denounced political violence and ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Comperatore, who was killed. Colorado Governor Jared Polis called for Biden to extend Secret Service protection to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Protection of independent presidential candidates by the Secret Service are considered on an as-needed basis. Biden directed the Secret Service to do so on July 15.

Former president George W. Bush called the shooting "cowardly" and applauded the Secret Service's response. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was Trump's opponent in the 2016 presidential election, also condemned the attack and wished Trump a swift recovery. Mike Pence, who served as Vice President of the United States under Trump (2017–2021) and launched a rival bid to Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, released a statement saying "Karen and I thank God that President Trump is safe and recovering following yesterday's attempted assassination", praising the Secret Service for their quick response which Pence opined "undoubtedly saved lives", adding "There is no place in America for political violence and it must be universally condemned." The Carter Center, founded by former president Jimmy Carter, condemned the attack and called for Americans to "embrace civility". John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate president Ronald Reagan in 1981, said "violence is not the way to go".

Mark Webb, a bishop of the Global Methodist Church—the Christian denomination in which Corey Comperatore held church membership—stated that the assassination attempt was a "senseless act of violence and hatred" and implored all to "comfort those who mourn and boldly offer the promise of resurrection and new life through Jesus Christ".

The National Council of Churches condemned the assassination attempt, along with "toxic polarization, hate rhetoric, and the demonization and denigration of those who hold different opinions". Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement condemning the shooting as political violence, emphasizing that it is never a solution to political disagreements.

International
Many heads of state and of government, as well as of international organizations, condemned the shooting and expressed good wishes to Trump.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada issued a statement on social media that he was sickened by the attack, adding "my thoughts are with former President Trump, those at the event, and all Americans." Trudeau spoke to Trump on the phone following the attack. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer led condemnation of the shooting saying that he was appalled by the attack on Trump, stating that political violence had "no place in our society". Buckingham Palace confirmed on July 15 that King Charles III had written to Trump following the assassination attempt. First Minister of Scotland John Swinney also condemned the incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India strongly condemned the incident, stating that "violence has no place in politics and democracies" and wished Trump a speedy recovery. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia condemned the shooting, saying there was "no place for violence in the democratic process" and added that he was relieved to hear Trump was safe. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said he was shocked to hear of what had occurred, adding that "no country should encounter such political violence".

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany condemned the shooting as an "attack on democracy", describing the attack on Trump as despicable and wishing the former president a quick recovery. Other European leaders to condemn the shooting included Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Simon Harris of Ireland, Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Luc Frieden of Luxembourg and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel released a video condemning the shooting and said it was an attack on democratic institutions everywhere.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed shock at the shooting, condemning the attack on Trump, and wishing the former president a speedy recovery. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, was confirmed by a UN spokesperson to have unequivocally condemned the attack, describing it as an act of political violence. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement saying that she was "deeply shocked" by the events at the rally, and offered condolences to the family of the deceased audience member, Corey Comperatore.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian president Vladimir Putin, condemned the event, adding that the shooting took place in an atmosphere created by Biden's leadership, in the context of what he argued to be attempts to remove Trump from the political arena. Cuba blamed the U.S. arms industry and increased political violence in America. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and other Georgian government officials blamed the attack on the "Global War Party", a recurring conspiracy theory of the Georgian Dream party alleging a mysterious international organization that exerts influence on the Western world from the shadows.

Online
The highly-visible event, which was immediately the subject of intense global news coverage, also became the subject of a large amount of commentary by Internet users. A large amount of activity occurred on Twitter. NBC News said that videos "ripped" across the website, and tweets about the event quickly gained millions of views in the first hour; "Trump" was the top trending topic, with over 228,000 posts, with one livestream having hundreds of thousands of people in its audience. Posts, images and videos related to the event were not only seen from accounts users were following, but also appeared prominently in users' algorithmic "for you" feeds. While much larger audiences posted on Twitter, the event was also discussed on 4chan, TikTok, Reddit, and Meta-owned Instagram and Threads. Similar bursts of activity happened on pro-Trump website patriots.win and Telegram, on the latter of which some far-right groups carried out a "pattern of mass deletion of posts [...] in case it was one of their own".

Many posters (including those both on the left and right wings ) discussed, argued, and tried to find out more about details of the event; topics of discourse involved details of the security setup, who was to blame for the attack, what kind of weapon the shooter had used, and whether language used by politicians and the media had "inflamed tensions" and played a role in motivating the attack. The Atlantic described posters as "trying to make their own order amid intense disorder". A very large number of claims made in the period immediately after the attack were unverified or conjectural, including multiple failed attempts at identifying the attacker. Many turned out to be false, while others were jokes or deliberate hoaxes.

While some people on the Internet (including left-wing users, right-wing users, and bots) suggested or claimed that the attack had been staged as a false flag, and the words "Trump" and "staged" were briefly the two highest-trending topics in the period immediately after the attack,  no evidence emerged to support that this was the case. Some false claims that gained significant circulation were derived from early media reports, superseded by later reports, including the claim that Trump was hit by a glass fragment flying at him from a teleprompter purportedly shattered by a bullet; the teleprompters were intact after the shooting.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories
Misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt also quickly spread on social media. MIT misinformation expert Adam Berinsky described the fast spread of such theories online as reflecting the extensive political division prevalent in the United States, and author Colin Dickey opined that the spread was due to the "long love affair with conspiracy theories of all kinds" in the country. BBC News disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring said that "the real change... is how this kind of lingo is being widely used by the average social media users" rather than being on the fringe, further noting that many of the "most-viral" false posts "came from left-leaning users who regularly share their anti-Trump views". The Associated Press described the two competing conspiracy theories that are being established online—that the shooting was either staged by Trump or orchestrated by Biden—as being "one for each end of America's polarized political spectrum".

Conspiracy theories gained popularity within minutes. The word "staged" became the second-highest trending topic on Twitter, generating approximately 600 million views with the help of bot accounts. Left-wing users posted conspiracy theories of a "false flag" operation, dubbed "BlueAnon", in reference to QAnon. Unsubstantiated theories included claims that the shooting and blood on Trump were faked; that crisis actors were used; that the victim who died was a "'sacrifice' to make the attempt look more realistic"; that the shooting was intended to improve Trump's likelihood of winning the election; and, according to a Democratic strategist, that the shooting was staged by Republicans to improve Trump's image. The Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz wrote that "As more Americans lose trust in mainstream institutions and turn to partisan commentators and influencers for information, experts say they are seeing a big uptick in the manufacture and spread of left-wing conspiracy theories, a sign that the communal warping of reality is no longer occurring primarily on the right." A poll by Morning Consult two days after the shooting implied one in five Americans believe the shooting was staged, including one third of Biden voters.

Right-wing conspiracy theories also circulated on social media. "Antifa" became a trending topic after posts on Twitter blamed the shooting on a "prominent Antifa activist", while other posts claimed the perpetrator was Jewish or transgender. CBS News wrote that users on Twitter alleged that "Secret Service resources were diverted from Trump's rally", an unsubstantiated claim denied by a spokesperson and echoed by Elon Musk, as part of the "baseless theory" that the agency is part of "a conspiracy to get rid of the former president". Many Trump supporters claimed the event was a deep state plot to prevent Trump's re-election. Users on X also claimed that Trump was targeted due to his ability to "stop 'World War III'".

Following the attack, some people criticized a statement Biden had made earlier in the month during a conversation with other Democrats: "I have one job, and that's to beat Donald Trump... It's time to put Trump in a bullseye." More than two dozen Republicans blamed the shooting on Biden, including Texas representative Keith Self, who argued that his language had incited violence; Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said "Democrats wanted this to happen"; and U.S. representative Mike Collins, who made the unsubstantiated claim that Biden "sent the orders". According to The New York Times, the claim that Biden orchestrated the shooting was "perhaps the most dominant" conspiracy theory. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue described this as part of a "massive online spread of false claims". Biden later apologized for the remark, saying "It was a mistake to use the word. I didn't say crosshairs. I meant bullseye, I meant focus on [Trump]. Focus on what he's doing."