Overview
- The NewsGuard/YouGov survey, released Monday, found 24% of adults say the April 25 White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting was staged, 45% say it was real, and 32% are unsure.
- Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to doubt the event, with about one in three Democrats versus roughly one in eight Republicans calling it staged, and younger adults showed higher skepticism than older groups.
- Looking across three incidents since 2024, only 38% said all were authentic, while 24% called the Butler, Pennsylvania rally shooting staged and 16% said the West Palm Beach golf‑club incident was staged.
- Cole Tomas Allen, accused in the Washington Hilton attack, was indicted and pleaded not guilty Monday to four federal felonies including attempted assassination, and his lawyers plan to seek the disqualification of two Justice Department officials who were at the dinner.
- Conspiracy claims spread quickly on social media with “staged” trending on X, as the White House dismissed the idea as baseless and Sen. John Fetterman, who attended the dinner, told doubters it was not staged.