Conspiracy theories are swirling about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

NewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechConspiracy theories are swirling about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting Soon after gunshots were heard and administration officials were removed from the event, social media posts suggested the shooting was not as it seemed. Soon after gunshots were heard and administration officials were removed from the event, social media posts suggested the shooting was not as it seemed.by Mia SatoCloseMia SatoFeatures Writer, The VergePosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Mia SatoApr 27, 2026, 5:11 PM UTCLinkShareGiftMelania and Donald Trump attend the White House Correspondents’ dinner on April 25, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesMia SatoCloseMia SatoPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Mia Sato is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.On Saturday evening, a room full of journalists, media personalities, and senior members of Donald Trump’s administration descended into chaos as gunshots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Nobody was hurt, and the suspect was taken into custody — but it didn’t take long for a narrative of doubt to take hold online.There is no evidence that the attack at the WHCD was staged — but the conspiracies echo an increasingly common belief held even by some former Trump loyalists that the president is faking assassination attempts. Many people online appear to earnestly believe this attack is just the latest iteration.On X, Threads, Bluesky, and Reddit, suggestions that the shooting was planted began circulating almost immediately. Clips that otherwise would be innocuous were circulated as proof the shooting was scripted, or that officials had knowledge of it ahead of time. In one clip viewed 5.7 million times and shared by a liberal “political commentator,” a Fox News reporter calls into the network and describes how at the dinner, press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s husband leaned over to her and told her, “You need to be very safe.” The call drops as she is about to elaborate on the conversation.Live callers losing connection happens occasionally during TV broadcasts, but here it became evidence for a conspiracy: “HOLY SH*T,” an X post of the video reads. “Fox News just cut one of their reporters off as they seemed to indicate the shooting was a pre-planned false flag.”A pre-event interview with Leavitt similarly made the rounds after the dinner. In the interview, she promised there would be “shots fired” during Trump’s speech — a common turn of phrase on any other day, but which under these circumstances was used to stir up suspicion, as if she had prior knowledge.RelatedTrump turns the WHCD shooting into a pitch for the White House ballroomAt the same time, some MAGA-aligned attendees began posting on X that the event had lax security, describing having an “uneasy feeling” and that “something felt off.” The event was held at a Hilton hotel in…

This excerpt is published under fair use for community discussion. Read the full article at The Verge.