By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
In a stunning revelation, the Washington Post reported Monday that a new survey shows roughly one-in-four Americans think at least one of the high-profile assassination attempts against President Donald Trump was “staged.”
The survey of 1,000 Americans, conducted by YouGov for NewsGuard April 28-May 4, asked whether they thought the attempts were legitimate or staged. Majorities in all three cases—the White House Correspondents’ dinner (45%), the attempt in Butler, Pa. (47%), and the incident at the president’s West Palm Beach golf course (48%)—think they were legitimate attempts on Trump’s life. As noted by NewsGuard, “there is no evidence that any of the attempted assassinations of Trump were ‘staged.’”
“Authorities say the alleged perpetrator in every incident acted alone and had no known connection to the Trump administration,” NewsGuard said.
But 24 percent believe the Correspondents’ dinner attack was staged, and 24 percent also think the Butler attack, which left the president wounded, was also staged. Only 16 percent of survey respondents think the golf course attempt was faked.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle was quoted by the WaPo stating, “Anyone who thinks President Trump staged his own assassination attempts is a complete moron.”
The newspaper also quoted Prof. Joan Donovan at Boston University, who teaches media manipulation. On her view, the survey results suggest people look at Trump’s history of showmanship.
Her observation: “It just seems incredibly Hollywood to imagine that this is staged… The entire apparatus of the government has been turned into a reality TV show.”
The argument that Butler was staged goes out the window when one considers Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet which may have fatally wounded volunteer fireman Corey Comperatore, 50, who was shielding his family at that July 13, 2024 campaign rally.
Likewise, the most recent incident at the Correspondents’ banquet did see a Secret Service agent wounded by the alleged gunman, who has now been charged with multiple crimes. Gunshot wounds are not things which can be faked.
Still, there is much skepticism, especially on the political left, about the assassination attempts, and pretty much anything else involving Trump.
