Conspiracy theories abound following the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner

A tidal wave of conspiracy theories swept social media after news broke that shots were fired at the Washington Hilton Hotel during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

That was to be expected, but some say the dynamic is shifting, with theories coming from liberals and progressives as well as right-wing reports criticizing US President Donald Trump.

“We saw it in 2016, but this time it’s much stronger, where we’re starting to see the adherence to conspiracy theories on the political left, especially after they’ve ridiculed everyone close to them,” said Carmen Celestini, who teaches at the University of Waterloo and studies disinformation, extremists and conspiracy theorists.

The dinner shooting, which Trump attended, took place in front of a room full of prominent reporters and editors who provided detailed reports of the crime scene in real time.

However, because the shooter was on a different floor of the hotel, it took some time for some details to emerge, while others remained unclear. And in some cases, actions taken by U.S. officials since the shooting have led to theories that the shooting was staged for political reasons.

Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas was among those who supported these theories. with a post on threads early Sunday.

“Has there ever been a president who had so many “assassinations” in his life?” Crockett wrote. “Maybe it’s lax gun laws, maybe it’s a lack of funding for mental health, or maybe it’s fake… who knows…”

All about the ballroom?

On social media platforms such as

Dozens of prominent Trump supporters immediately made similar X-posts about the need for the ballroom just minutes after Saturday’s shooting. Sparking claims so The response and the shooting itself were part of a coordinated campaign.

Former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair said in a TikTok video that it seemed like the conservative influencers had agreed to push the same topic of conversation. “Everything in MAGA is fake, staged and coordinated,” she said.

Trump and other US officials continued their push after the shooting, which Celestini said confirmed theories circulating online.

“We need the ballroom,” Trump told reporters on Saturday. He also later claimed in a post on Truth Social that the Military Top Secret Ballroom shooting never happened.

The U.S. Justice Department has used the shooting to pressure preservationists to drop a lawsuit over the $400 million U.S. project, a point emphasized by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized at a press conference on Monday.

The Republicans are also in the US Congress on Monday pushed for legislation to expedite construction of the ballroom using taxpayer money, citing increased safety concerns.

Grin, interrupt calls and… time travel?

Some are picking up on small signals – images of Trump with a grin on his face as the excitement unfolded, or press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told Fox News before dinner: “Some shots will be fired tonight“, in a metaphorical reference to Trump’s speech – as evidence that the White House knew in advance what was going to happen.

In a widely shared clip, Fox News reporter Aishah Hasnie is interrupted mid-sentence while speaking at the Hilton, which some social media users have seen was claimed was evidence that she was about to uncover a “false flag” operation. Hasnie has refuted this in an X postand said, “Our calls have been returned because there are hardly any services in this ballroom.”

One of the more outlandish theories suggests that it is a time traveler predicted the assassination attempt attempt. This is based on a post on X from 2023 from a faceless account that posted the name Cole Allen. The defendant’s name is Cole Tomas Allen.

“Conspiracy theories articulate a sense of injustice, whether real or perceived, and they articulate fear,” Celestini said.

She said that people who feel disenfranchised under the Trump administration, particularly on the left, feel like they are in a never-ending catastrophe and that they need to find a reason for it.

And “it cannot be because the constitution or democracy is failing,” Celestini said.

On the right, she says the Trump administration is stoking distrust with claims and actions that are “removed” from the reality of the average citizen – by cheering inflation numbers and promises lower gas prices while many are see daily costs increasing and the continuation of a war with Iran that has raised fears among Americans could be worked out to fight abroad.

“Some of the people who support him feel that their promises have been broken, and we are watching those being broken, which is causing these conspiracy theories to not only develop, but also to become credible in some people’s lives,” Celestini said.

“Information flood”

Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland who studies conspiracy theories, said a lack of trust in institutions and an inability to separate fact from fiction is a “textbook recipe” for such rumors.

“The thing about conspiracy theories that people enjoy, even when they’re not politically extreme, is that you can look for breadcrumbs,” she told The Associated Press.

“It’s a way to feel smart and accepted when you come up with something to contribute and people like it.”

Emily Vraga, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies political misinformation, told AP that sometimes more information isn’t necessarily better, especially in such a polarized time when people can pick and choose the facts they like and put together their own narrative puzzles.

“We just can’t process that much information,” she said. “And so when there’s just this flood of information that’s contradictory and constantly changing as new information comes in, that can actually increase the tendency to move toward a simplified, understandable narrative. And that narrative can include conspiracy theories.”