Claims circulated that the Chinese were behind it, that Antifa was behind it, that the Biden administration was behind it, and even that the Republican Party was responsible, according to PeakMetrics intelligence analyst Paul Bartel.
– Everyone is just speculating. No one has any idea what is going on. They just go into social media to find out, says Bartel.
The outbreak of guesswork and speculation shows once once more that social media has become a dominant source of information, and misinformation, for many Americans, contributing to the mistrust and turbulence in today’s American politics.
Crazy and contradictory
The claims, sometimes completely crazy and at other times contradictory, at the same time reflect how uncertain everything is in America’s polarized political reality.
Some of the more spectacular claims that emerged immediately following the assassination were that either Trump himself or his Democratic rival Joe Biden was behind it.
Some claims from the left were that it was a false flag operation that Trump was behind, while some Trump supporters alleged that the Secret Service deliberately failed to give Trump protection at the behest of the White House.
The Secret Service refuses
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting presidents and former presidents, hit back on Sunday once morest claims that the Trump campaign had been denied increased protection ahead of Saturday’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
– It is completely false. In fact, we increased security, both with crew and technology, says spokesman Anthony Guglelmi at X.
In the social media echo chambers, Trump supporters and Trump detractors searched for evidence to support their claims. Video showing Secret Service people pushing people away from Trump before the speech was taken as evidence that it was an inside job.
On the other hand, Trump’s raised fist was used to build up to the opposite conclusion, namely that it was all staged by Trump.
– Why would the USSS (Secret Service) let him stop and pose for a photo if it was actually a dangerous situation, wrote one user.
Wrong people hanged
Conspiracy theories also quickly emerged, misidentifying the perpetrators, blaming other people without evidence, and promoting hateful claims, including anti-Semitism.
Before the authorities released the name of the suspected perpetrator, photos circulated of two different innocent people who were alleged to be the assassins.
In the midst of all the speculation and guesswork, there were also some who tried to take advantage of the situation financially.
On X Sunday morning, an account calling itself Proud Patriots asked people to buy souvenir cards regarding the assassination, with the text “First they try to imprison him, then they try to kill him.”
Toxic rhetoric
After the assassination, some Republicans blamed Biden. They claim that the constant criticism of Trump as a danger to democracy creates a toxic atmosphere. They pointed to Biden saying in July that Trump had to be put on the target.
But Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric has previously been criticized for inciting violence, including the claims that he lost the election, and the speech in which he told supporters to “fight like hell” ahead of the attack on Congress on January 6, 2021.
Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose violence as a solution to political disagreement, but heated rhetoric can motivate a small group to act, says Sean Westwood at Dartmouth College.
He is worried and says that Saturday’s assassination might incite others to use violence, and that there is now a real risk of the situation escalating.
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2024-07-15 15:34:27
