Donald Trump condemned individuals who assert that the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was orchestrated, labeling such beliefs as “sick.”
The incident occurred Saturday night, marking Trump's first attendance at the event since 2011. Speculation regarding the authenticity of the shooting, which follows two assassination attempts against him in 2024, surged on social media shortly after.
By midday Sunday, the term “staged” had appeared in over 300,000 posts on X, as reported by TweetBinder.
During an interview on CBS News’ 60 Minutes, when questioned about the conspiracy theories surrounding the event, Trump claimed he was unaware of the online chatter.
“I think they’re more sick than they are con people,” Trump remarked, addressing the conspiracy theorists. “But there’s a lot of con in there too.”
He added, “I haven’t heard that last night didn’t happen. Usually takes a little bit longer. Usually, they wait about two or three months to start saying that.”
Trump characterized the notion that Saturday’s shooting was staged as a “tough sell.”
Norah O’Donnell, the correspondent for 60 Minutes, also probed Trump about conspiracy theories related to an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania in 2024.
In response, Trump listed various conspiracy theories regarding significant global events, including unfounded claims that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 “didn’t happen.”
He further noted that some individuals believe “World War II didn’t happen and the Holocaust didn’t happen, and many things didn’t happen.”
Professor Cliff Lampe from the University of Michigan explained to The New York Times why conspiracy theories proliferate on social media: people are not “looking for good information.”
“People are reshaping reality based on what they want to be true or not,” he stated. “They’re not looking for good information; they’re looking for confirmatory information and will often go very deep down a rabbit hole of side-by-side pictures, microshots of the president’s face, et cetera.”
As security agents rushed to apprehend the shooter near a checkpoint, Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and members of the Cabinet were evacuated from the Washington Hilton ballroom.
Cole Tomas Allen has been arrested in connection with the shooting incident at the Washington Hilton. Authorities reported that Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced that Allen’s arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday. He faces charges of using a firearm during a violent crime and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, Pirro confirmed.
