Three in ten Americans believe at least one of the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump was “staged,” a recent NewsGuard/YouGov survey revealed.
The survey examined Americans’ sentiments on the attempts to take President Trump’s life. It asked 1,000 Americans if they believed any of the three attempts of Trump’s life – including the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting in 2024, the incident at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course that same year, and more recently, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner just weeks ago – was legitimate.
For the Butler shooting – which saw the bullet narrowly miss Trump’s skull – a plurality, 47, percent, said they believe it was a real attempt. However, 29 percent said they wee “unsure,” and 24 percent believe it was completely staged.
Similarly, a plurality, 48 percent, believe the attempt on Trump’s life at the Trump International Golf Club in September 2024 was a real attempt to take his life, followed by 36 percent who are “unsure,” and 16 percent who believe it was staged. That thwarted attempt resulted in the arrest of Ryan Routh, who was convicted for the attempted assassination.
More recently, 45 percent believe that the WHCD attempted shooting was legitimate, followed by 32 percent who are not sure and nearly a quarter, 24 percent, who believe it was staged.
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Further, across the board, 21 percent of Democrats believe that all three assassination attempts were staged – far higher than the 12 percent of Americans overall who believe all three were staged.
“Of the 12 percent of Americans who said that all three attempts were staged, 55 percent were Democrats, 38 percent were Independents, and seven percent were Republicans,” the survey found.
Notably, the highest percentage of Democrats tend to think the Butler shooting, which resulted in the death of rallygoer Corey Comperatore – a husband, father, and firefighter – was faked: 42 percent. Another 34 percent think the WHCD shooting was faked, followed by 26 percent who said the Trump International Golf Club was faked.
The survey was taken April 28 to May 4 and comes just weeks after yet another assassination attempt on not only Trump but other administration officials, as detailed by the suspect’s manifesto.
The suspect, Cole Allen, who has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president, wrote in his manifesto – scheduled to be sent to various individuals around the time of his attack – that he was specifically targeting administration officials, with an exception of FBI Director Kash Patel.
“They are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” the manifesto read, referring to Trump administration officials.
He went on to say that Secret Service were only targets “if necessary” and said members of the audience were not either. However, he made it clear he would, indeed, shoot them, if necessary, as well.
“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” the manifesto reads.
During a press conference held after the last assassination attempt, President Trump responded to a question essentially asking why these incidents continue to happen to him, specifically.
“They don’t go after the ones that don’t do much, because they like it that way,” Trump responded. “And when you look at the people that have either, whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, they’re very impactful people. Just take a look at the names there, the big names. And I hate to say I’m honored by that.”
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