Correspondents dinner shooting unleashes conspiracy theories
4/27/20269 min
Within minutes of the news of a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, people claimed on social media that the incident was “STAGED." To be clear — these were conspiracy theories, not supported by what we know about the suspect.
The most common of these theories claim the shooting was orchestrated in an effort to boost President Trump’s plans for a new White House ballroom.
It isn’t surprising that rampant speculation would instantly surround an act of apparent politically-motivated violence, but this incident suggests that voices on the left are increasingly engaged with conspiracy theories.
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This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam and Karen Zamora.
It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsScott Detrow· Host0:00
It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. At this moment, few hard details are known about what authorities are calling an assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington Saturday night. But here is what we do know.
Molly Olmstead· Guest0:15
At approximately eight thirty six tonight, an individual charged a US Secret Service checkpoint here in the lobby area of the hotel. Uh, he was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. As he ran through that checkpoint, members of law enforcement from the United States Secret Service intercepted that individual.
Scott Detrow· Host0:35
That's Jeff Carroll, interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, speaking Saturday. The individual he referenced has now been identified as thirty-one-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California. Meanwhile, inside the ballroom, Trump, Vice President Vance, cabinet members, lawmakers, and press were having dinner when guests heard muffled popping sounds. [gunshots] NPR's Domenico Montanaro was also there.
Domenico Montanaro0:59
Well, a really disorienting moment here at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the first time that President Trump has been at a White House Correspondents' Dinner, and we wound up with shots fired inside.
Jamie Raskin· Soundbite1:10
[shouting] Get down. Stay down. I ended up hitting the ground with everybody else.
Scott Detrow· Host1:16
Among them was Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He spoke to NPR Monday.
Jamie Raskin· Soundbite1:20
We were down on the floor for around two to three minutes before people began to get up, and we were told that, uh, you know, there was some- somebody who