Social media was rife with conspiracy theories and misinformation after the Donald Trump campaign rally shooting incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Several left-leaning outlets, though not all, took a different turn, initially disseminating it as a case of “loud noises” startling the former president.
CNN wrote: “Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at the rally.”
US Today outlets originally reported: “Trump removed from stage by Secret Service after loud noises startle former president.”
The Washington Post also initially wrote: “Trump taken away after loud noises at rally.”
Shortly after that, political leaders voiced their outrage, not only condemning the public attack on the former president but also branding the corporate media complicit in his assassination attempt. The Associated Press ultimately painted the terrifying Saturday incident as the “most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981,” aligning with Republicans’ concerns.
Evidently, the Republican presidential nominee’s safety became a subplot to other trends and tones of media coverage inciting political violence and the immensely polarised state of the nation.
Political leaders didn’t mince their words when taking the issue to social media.
Sen Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a potential VP mate for the presidential hopeful, wrote on X/Twitter: “Let’s be clear: This was an assassination attempt aided and abetted by the radical Left and corporate media incessantly calling Trump a threat to democracy, fascists, or worse.”
Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate Nicole Shanahan, though commonly recognised as a critic of Trump’s, also blamed the “DNC and legacy media” for causing “hysteria that is ripping this country apart.” She added, “Let this be a lesson to all political leaders: when you dehumanize your opponent and radicalize your base, you are responsible for the violence that inevitably ensues.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bashed journalists for failing to call the rally incident an “assassination attempt.”
“IT WAS AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT! And a Trump supporter was murdered!!
These scum claim they are journalists.
They aren’t. They are communists who want you dead in a ‘shooting incident.’”
Simultaneously, she claimed that Democrats were complicit in the attack on the former president as they have “wanted Trump gone for years and they’re prepared to do anything to make that happen. “
In another tweet, she outrightly proclaimed the Democrats wanted this to happen as they’ve “wanted Trump gone for years and they’re prepared to do anything to make that happen.”
Also read | Was there a security lapse in Donald Trump’s assassination attempt?
As possibly one of the most active pro-Trump politicians, Taylor Greene’s social media feed was brimming with a series of heated tweets. Directing all her ferocious attacks on the Democrats and the media, she again emphasised they “are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today,” given how they’ve been “demonising” Trump and his supporters for years.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), another potential running mate for Trump, wrote on the micro-blogging platform that the Biden campaign’s central premise set on villainising their front-running rival as “an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.”
Numerous other lawmakers continued their verbal onslaught on the media. Rep. Andy Biggs took aim at “radical Left’s violent rhetoric and hate speech,” claiming it was endangering the country.
Rep. Darrell Issa continued the rhetoric with his words: “Maybe Democrats and the media will rethink the last eight years of calling Donald Trump the return of Hitler.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson kicked it a notch higher in his fiery all-caps social media statement: “Trump-deranged Left wing LUNATICS that parade around MSNBC and other FAKE NEWS “outlets” demonizing Trump and calling him Hitler are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for this violent attack on President Trump’s life!! They have BLOOD on their hands. ENOUGH of the VIOLENT RHETORIC! AMERICA IS PISSED!!!!”