Nearly a quarter of Americans think the attempted attack on the White House Correspondents' Dinner last month was staged, according to a new YouGov poll published by NewsGuard. The survey found that 24 percent of U.S. citizens believe the incident was fabricated, while 45 percent consider it genuine and 32 percent are unsure.
The attack occurred on April 25 at the Washington Hilton, where a suspected gunman tried to storm the venue but was apprehended by the Secret Service before reaching President Donald Trump or other attendees. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a computer programmer from Torrance, California, has been indicted on four felonies, including attempted assassination of the president. He pleaded not guilty in court on Monday.
The belief that the event was staged was higher among Democrats, with 33 percent endorsing the conspiracy theory, compared to 12 percent of Republicans. Younger people, particularly those aged 19 to 29, were more likely to suspect the attack was not real.
Similar skepticism surrounds previous incidents. The July 2024 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a sniper's bullet grazed Trump's ear, was also considered staged by 24 percent of respondents. For the September 2024 attempt at Trump's West Palm Beach golf club, 16 percent believed it was fabricated.
Overall, 21 percent of Democrats think all three incidents were staged, versus 11 percent of independents and 3 percent of conservatives. NewsGuard editor Sofia Rubinson noted, "Increasingly, people on all sides of the political spectrum are distrustful of both this administration and also the media." White House spokesman Davis Ingle dismissed the findings, calling anyone who believes the attacks were staged "a complete moron."
