The July 13, 2024, incident involving the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at a political rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, remains fresh in public memory. The scale of the security breach and its political fallout have kept the event in focus. At the time, Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
During the Pennsylvania rally, Trump was injured in his upper right ear by a bullet. This occurred after Thomas Crooks fired eight rounds from an AR-15-style rifle from the terrace of a nearby building. During the incident, one attendee was killed, while two others were left critically injured. Just four seconds later, one of the members of the Butler County Emergency Service Unit opened fire on Crooks, halting the attack. Shortly thereafter, Crooks was shot and killed by the United States Secret Service Counter Sniper Team.
As we learn more about the scam filled life of Donald Trump, why isn’t there a serious investigation into the staged “assassination ” attempt in Butler, PA. THAT was the moment when Trump stole the 2024 election. Get after it investigative journalists! America deserves the truth!
— Jeff Clabault (@JeffClabault) March 15, 2026
As the shots began to ring out, Trump grabbed his ear and immediately ducked behind the lectern. The Secret Service agents then stepped forward to protect him from further harm. It was then that Associated Press photojournalist Evan Vucci snapped a photograph that quickly went viral – Trump with blood on his face, raising his fist in the air.
As he was escorted away from the scene, he was heard yelling out, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Social media users are debating the authenticity of the incident. Conservative circles have been drawn into the discussion as a prominent figure within the MAGA movement suggested they believe the theory that President Donald Trump planned the 2024 assassination attempt on himself is true, pointing to what they describe as suspicious circumstances surrounding the event.
Some of the suspicion comes from the absence of a scar on his ear, Trump’s apparent calm as he raised his fist in the air, and the fact that the shooter’s reported support for Trump.
Discontent among the MAGA base has grown, as his second-term policy direction has appeared to diverge from supporters’ expectations. Far-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos is arguably the most prominent MAGA supporter to have expressed suspicion over the Butler, Pennsylvania, incident.
Milo Yiannopoulos intensified debate on X, flatly denying that the assassination attempt occurred: “There was no assassination attempt. It didn’t happen. I’m sorry, it just didn’t.” The sentiment resonated with other critics, including one anti-Trump Republican who questioned why no formal investigation had been conducted into the Butler, Pennsylvania, incident and accused the president of orchestrating a staged attack to secure the 2024 election.
Some posts have gone further, alleging without evidence that the incident was staged:
🚨 High profile right wingers are now claiming the assassination attempt on Trump was staged. pic.twitter.com/9C17NTfrU2
— Micah (@micah_erfan) March 16, 2026
Hannah Cox, president of BASEDPolitics and a self-identified libertarian-conservative, raised doubts about the 2024 assassination attempt without evidence in a post on X. Cox highlighted the reactions of the crowd, stating, “I’ve never re-watched this clip until now.” She added, “Look at the people behind him and their reactions. No one on earth would sit there like that after a public shooting broke out. Compare this to the crowd and people around Charlie Kirk when he’s shot.”
As skepticism over President Trump’s 2024 assassination attempt spread among conservatives, online infighting quickly followed. Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, criticized Hannah Cox’s post, writing,
“President of BASEDpolitics (who was never based, of course), suggesting Trump staged his own assassination attempt. These grifters and clowns can’t leave the scenes fast enough for me.”
Others have pushed back against the skepticism, including a user named “Brick Suit,” who shared front-row video of the Butler event, which was reinforced by Trump’s combative White House communications director, who stated, “Anyone saying it was staged (…) [has] no sense of reality.”
