A would-be assassin took aim at former President Donald Trump at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania today in a shooting that left at least one innocent bystander dead.
Trump was addressing a massive crowd of supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, when the incident took place. The entire event was captured on live television. While addressing the crowd on Biden’s performance, “popping” sounds were audible, and Trump immediately grabbed his ear as though in pain. Secret Service immediately rushed the stage, protecting the repeat presidential hopeful as screams of shock and horror rippled through the crowd.
It was soon apparent that Trump had been injured, as smears of blood were visible on his face as he stood, surrounded by the Secret Service officers. But in a show of triumphant victory, he addressed the crowd a final time, raising his fist as though to assure his audience that he was alright.
While there has been a firestorm of information from mainstream media outlets documenting the shooting, many are noticing a pattern of downplaying the attempted assassination.
ABC 7 Chicago referred to the shooting as “loud noises” ringing out through the crowd, while parent outlet ABC changed coined it a “disruption.” MSNBC broke the news as Trump being rushed off the stage after “popping noises” were heard, and the New York Times referred to the obvious assassination attempt as Trump being escorted out of his rally for “what sounded like gunshots.” In one of the more egregious examples, USA Today headlined their breaking news as “Trump removed from stage by Secret Service after loud noises startled him.” The outlet has since changed it.
The bizarre headlines were noticed by many, who condemned them as an attempt to downplay what had happened.
Contributor to The Publica Lewis Brackpool shared some screenshots of the examples, writing: “You do not hate the media enough. Look at how they’re reporting Trump being shot at.”
Similar headlines were shared by Aussie YouTuber Sydney Watson, who labeled the mainstream media “an actual joke.”
Just moments after the shooting took place, a CNN analyst dismissed the threat completely, stating: “Donald Trump and the people around him perceive themselves to be under threat… and that is not legitimate.”
While the news continues to develop at a rapid pace, people have taken to social media to express their shock and outrage at the attempted assassination, with most condemning the effort to murder a former President.
However, some Biden supporters have dismissed or openly mocked the shooting, with a few even openly wishing it had been successful in killing Trump.
One Canadian X user, Dr. Karen Pinder, said: “Damn, so close. Too bad.” Pinder, a professor at the University of British Columbia, has since deleted her post.
Another quickly-deleted post came from transgender X user @BanjoFrogAlex, who complained “how do you miss like that,” suggesting that killing former President Trump was the “chance of a lifetime.”
Others have even claimed the shooting was a “staged” by Trump himself with the intention of boosting his campaign and taking attention away from President Joe Biden.
“Sorry, this feels so staged. The day after a barnstorming come-back from Biden?” Questioned X user Michael Marshall Smith.
“There is no way on Earth that I believe Trump’s first response after genuinely being shot at is to bravely wave a fist at the crowd. Nope. Don’t believe it,” Smith continued in his thread. “Let’s see the media be as clinically forensic about this as they were over Biden’s debate performance. How did the gun get in? Frame by frame the video before, during and after the event. I’ll apologize if I’m wrong, but…”
Smith was not the only Biden supporter claiming Trump had staged his own shooting, with his post racking up over 4,000 ‘likes’ in less than an hour.
