In the immediate hours following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, social media users posted the identical videos, images and eyewitness accounts, but used them as evidence for various rumors or theories that suited their political preferences.
In the flood of rumors there was also a TikTok creator commented on the immediately iconic photo of Trump, with a bloody ear, raising his fist as he emerges from the Secret Service huddle. “People are wondering if this photo is staged?” His answer: “Yes.”
People from across the political spectrum, including President Joe Bidenasked the query why the key service couldn’t prevent the attack. But then some people took this criticism even further. A Influencer on the social media platform X posted an aerial photo and asked how an armed attacker could get onto an unsecured roof, concluding: “This smells like an inside job.”
As Researchers who study Misinformation on the University of Washington Center for an informed publicWe have seen in previous crises that groups of individuals got here together to grasp what was occurring by providing evidence and interpreting it through different political or cultural lenses, called frames. This is a component of a dynamic process that scientists Collective meaning-finding.
Spreading rumors is a component of this process and a natural human response to crisis events. Rumors, no matter their accuracy, help people interpret and explain an uncertain or frightening reality. Politics and identity help determine what frames people use to interpret and characterize evidence in a crisis. Some political actors and activists may attempt to influence these frames to realize their goals.
After the attack, our research team monitored how rumors spread on social media and located that three politically coded frames emerged across the spectrum:
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claims that the event was staged
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Criticism of the Secret Service, often blaming diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives
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the idea that the shooting was an inside job
“It was staged”
The anti-Trump side quickly spread rumors that the shooting was staged for Trump's political ends. However, these rumors diminished as more evidence emerged in regards to the shooter. One creator asked if the audience were crisis actors because that they had not disbanded quickly enough after the shooting. Others pointed to Trump's past in World Wrestling Entertainment and reality TV and suggested that he had cut himself for dramatic effect like skilled wrestlers. Entertainment professionals chimed in and said Trump had fake blood packets in Hollywood studios.
The staged rumor was well received by conspiratorial framework that we now have seen People use these methods to process crisis events, resembling allegations of a false flag event or using crisis actors to facilitate a political victory.
Failures of the key service
Social and mainstream media outlets from across the political spectrum questioned why the Secret Service didn’t protect a presidential candidate. Many compared Secret Service videos to rapid response to the 1981 Assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, suggest your response with Trump it was slower.
However, some further politicized this framework, Blame DAY for the Secret Service's failures. It is alleged that efforts to extend the number of ladies within the Secret Service resulted in unqualified agents working for Trump's security staff.
Blaming DEI is a standard and increasingly used cliché on social media, as seen recently in rumors following the Baltimore Bridge collapse and that Boeing whistleblower crisisPro-Trump Creator shared images which can be critical of female Secret service agents are juxtaposed with famous images of male soldiers. We expect to see this portrayal in the long run as well.
Parallel to this criticism, rumors spread in pro-Trump communities that the Secret Service had rejected Trump’s additional security requests, which the GOP had investigated – A claim the Secret Service has denied this. This narrative was further fuelled by recent legislative proposals called for the Secret Service's protection of Trump to be lifted if he were sentenced to prison after being convicted of against the law.
AP Graphics
'It was an inside job'
By highlighting lots of the same criticisms and questions from how the shooter was capable of get onto an unsecured roofother influencers suggested The shooting will need to have been an inside job. By retweeting a preferred pro-Trump influencer, Elon Musk speculated that the error was either “incompetence” or “intentional.” A preferred post on X – formerly Twitter – tried to make sense how a 20-year-old was capable of outwit the Secret Service, and concluded by suggesting that the failure could have been deliberate.
These insider speculations are just like the rumor that the shooting was staged – although they emerged a bit of later – and so they meet the necessities of False flag operations in previous crisis events.
Spreading rumors is human nature
As the crisis subsides over time, rumors will likely persist, and other people will likely adjust their perspectives as latest evidence emerges—all a part of the collective interpretive process. Some perspectives we identified on this event may also likely evolve, resembling political criticism of the intelligence community. Others will likely dissipate, resembling the rumor that the shooting was staged.
This is a natural social process that everybody participates in, as we apply our political and social values to rapidly changing information environments to make sense of our realities. When intense emotions and a number of ambiguity are involved, most individuals make mistakes attempting to work out what's occurring.
Becoming caught up in conspiracy theories after a tragedy—whether for political, social, and even entertainment reasons—is a standard human response. It is significant to keep in mind that within the means of collective sense-making, people whose goals aren’t the invention and communication of accurate information may develop conspiracy theories that suit their interests and goals. These may include: foreign opponentspolitical activists, social media influencers, and scammers. Some may proceed to spread false rumors or spin salacious stories to complement themselves.
Rather than berating one another for spreading rumors, it's vital to assist one another understand the social dynamics and contexts that result in how and why rumors arise. Recognizing how people's political identities are exploited—and in passing make them vulnerable—to spread false rumors may help them grow to be more resilient to those forces.
image credit : theconversation.com