SEMISLOT88 – Shocking news rocked the world, when former President of the United States (US) Donald Trump was shot by a gunman during the presidential election campaign (pilpres) in Pennsylvania on Saturday, American time. Despite surviving a bullet fired by a sniper who escaped detection by the Secret Service During that time, Trump suffered a wound to his right ear, and one campaign participant was killed and two others were injured.
The attempt to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate was the peak of the commotion in the 60th US election. This is also a disgrace that tarnishes the peaceful political process in the country which is often touted as a symbol of world democracy.
This shocking event partly strengthened the wave of sympathy and support for Trump. However, others responded to the incident from a “conspiracy theory” perspective just minutes after the assassination attempt was foiled.
“Performance/performance!” is a word that spread and became trending on X in the United States a few minutes after news of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump spread. Stage or performance are words that are synonymous with or refer to conspiracy theories on social media, which often raise doubts.
In the past 24 hours following the shooting, it has flooded mainstream online conversation, and posts filled with speculation, hate and abuse without evidence have racked up millions of views on X. But what stands out is how this frenzy has gripped all sides of the political spectrum.
As always, conspiracy theories sometimes start with legitimate questions and confusion. They centered on alleged security failures, and many users asked how this could have happened. How did the attacker get to the roof? Why weren’t they stopped? A wave of distrust, speculation and disinformation poured into the explanatory vacuum.
“It seemed so far-fetched,” read one post on X that had 1 million views. “No one in the crowd was running or panicking. No one in the crowd heard the sound of a real gun. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe him.”
Apart from that, US President Joe Biden immediately issued an appeal to the American people after news of the shooting of his political opponent circulated. Biden asked the US people to calm down and lower the political temperature. Biden’s call was made in a formal setting in the Oval Office of the White House on Sunday.
“Trump’s shooting of a mass gathering in Pennsylvania on Saturday calls on all of us to take a step back,” Biden said. “Fortunately Trump did not suffer serious injuries,” he said again, as quoted by Reuters, Monday (15/7/2024).
“We cannot allow this violence to be normalized. The political rhetoric in this country is getting heated. It’s time to calm down,” Biden said. “We all have a responsibility to do this,” he said.
“In America, we resolved our differences at the ballot box. Now, that’s how we do it. At the ballot box. Not with bullets,” stressed Biden in a speech that lasted about seven minutes.
