Ed just wrote a post about the media’s fixation on assassination conspiracy theories, but a new survey by NewsGuard (of all places) finds that it’s mostly Democrats who are engaging in this. In fact, up to a third of Democrats now embrace this particular theory about the shooting at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
About 1 in 4 Americans think the April shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner was staged, with a marked partisan divide, according to a survey published Monday.
Roughly 1 in 3 Democratic respondents said they believed the event was staged, compared with about 1 in 8 Republicans, according to a survey published Monday by NewsGuard, a company that rates the reliability of online news outlets. Respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 were also more likely than older people to think the incident was staged, according to the report.
Where did Democrats all get this mistaken idea? Last month the Post reported that about 20% of left-wing influencers had almost immediately adopted the idea, The consensus at the time was that Trump had cooked up a fake assassination attempt in order to push the need for his ballroom project. Basically, a lot of lefties assumed that if Trump were talking about the ballroom, that must be the real reason the shooting had happened.
There is zero evidence any of the three assassination attempts were faked and yet, a slight majority off people in the survey say each of the three attempts was either fake or they are unsure. For instance, 53% say the Butler shooting was either faked or they are unsure, compared to 47% who agree it was real. The figures for the other two attempts are similar. All of this is being driven by Democrats, relatively few of whom are living in the real world.
In total, 21 percent of Democrats responded that they thought all three events were staged, as did 11 percent of Independents and three percent of Republicans…
Of the respondents who said that all three incidents were authentic, only 15 percent were Democrats.
Not surprisingly, the numbers are the worst for the Butler, PA shooting.
For the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting — when a bullet grazed Trump’s ear and a local firefighter attending the rally was killed — 42 percent of Democrats called it staged, compared to seven percent of Republicans — a 35-point spread, the largest partisan gap in the survey.
Why this particular shooting? Because it was widely seen as making Trump look good (Fight! Fight! Fight!) and possibly helping him win the election. As I’ve said before, conspiracy theories thrive on the idea that important outcomes must have important causes. Since Democrats think Trump getting reelected was a very significant outcome, it’s hard for them to believe it was caused by a little nobody who climbed up on a roof with a rifle. It’s easier for 42% of them to believe it was staged to benefit Trump.
Cole Allen, the man who attempted to storm the WHCD, was one of the Democrats who believed the Butler, PA shooting was staged. So we’re now at the point where the fact that there are so many close calls is helping to radicalize new shooters who believe the close calls were actually signs of creeping authoritarianism. Literally, about a third of Democrats believe Trump is staging these incidents to get his way, when in fact, he’s trying to survive the onslaught of deranged people who’ve bought into the left’s hype.
Over the weekend I wrote about some of the other assassination threats that have resulted in charged before the plots turned into attempts.
- Dean DelleChiaie – An FAA worker from New Hampshire threatened to kill Trump last month. He had previously done searches on how to get a gun into a federal facility.
- Nathaniel Sanders – Out of Florida. The FBI got a tip which led them to threats to bomb the White House and also to kill Melania Trump and Sec. Marco Rubio.
- Michael Kovco – Chicago man threatened to kill Trump and his son Barron. He sent a message to the WH website saying it came from “Mr. I’m going to f***ing kill your child Kovco”
- Andrew D. Emerald – From Massachusetts, he repeatedly threatened to kill Trump on Facebook. When the FBI showed up, he brandished a sword.
- Shawn Monper – From Butler, PA. He pleaded guilty last month to threatening to murder Trump. He called himself Mr. Satan on YouTube and got a firearm permit not long after Trump’s 2nd inauguration.
It turns out I actually missed some.
The United States Secret Service arrested Daniel R. Swain, 41, of Summerville, South Carolina, on a Federal warrant in Apex. The Secret Service obtained the warrant pursuant to a Federal criminal complaint signed by a U.S. Magistrate Judge which accuses Swain of threatening to take the life of the President of the United States. According to the complaint, concerned citizens contacted the Apex Police Department when they observed the message “HEADED TO WSH TO KILL THE PRES” written in white marker on the driver side window of Swain’s car.
There’s also this nutter in Pennsylvania who wanted to kill Sen. Fetterman and President Trump.
It’s hard to keep up with the threats. Anyway, it should worry everyone that approaching half of Democrats think the Butler, PA shooting was fake and only a relatively small number agree that all three attempts were real. Democrats are increasingly not living in the real world and that’s clearly dangerous.
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