Was the Trump 'Shooting' an Inside Job?

The Trump assassination attempt quickly prompted efforts to capitalize.

Many questions surrounding the July 6 Donald Trump assassination attempt in Butler, PA still remain, with suspicions repeatedly expressed on social media that somehow this might have been an inside job, a ploy cooked up by Trump's team to assure 45's return to the White House.

Sort of like a scam run by his pal, Vladimir Putin.

That's hard to believe considering the tragic consequences at the event, which saw a father and husband killed by one of the would-be assassin's bullets and two other Trump supporters critically injured.

Trump Already Benefiting

Whatever the truth, there is one fact that's emerged since that shooting: Trump's chances of winning the election have vastly improved -- to 74 percent, according to the SportsHandle election odds tracker. As of this morning, the organization reported these odds:

Donald Trump - 74%

Joe Biden - 17.96%

Kamala Harris - 10.28%

“Donald Trump’s lead over the field was already commanding but the unfortunate events of this weekend have raised his popularity even more. It’s beginning to look evident that Joe Biden will not step down from the race, and that Donald Trump will likely have a clearer path to victory this fall than he had in either 2016 or 2020,” said a spokesman for Sports Handle.

Meanwhile, new data reveals that Trump’s Instagram followers have skyrocketed by over 702,000 since the shooting.

Research conducted by social media marketing experts at Viralyft.com used Social Blade and TikTok Creative Center to analyze the Trump social media follower increase and engagement, showing that his Instagram following has climbed to 26.6 million followers, or 49 percent more than Biden’s 17.2 million followers.  

Trump also has gained popularity on TikTok with the hashtag #Trump gaining 668 million views, #DonaldTrump gaining 282 million and #Trump2024 gaining 157 million in the past seven days worldwide. 

An Inside Job?

Was this simply a tragic photo op staged by Trump, as many posters on social media suggest, to bolster his image as a fighter and claims that he's been unfairly targeted by Democrats? If so, it appears to be working -- spectacularly. And now that clenched fist image of the apparently bloodied Trump just below an American flag is being used by the Trump campaign to bolster his tough guy image at the very time that President Biden is being portrayed as frail, weak, and mentally out of it.

Here are just some of the many questions being raised on social media about the incident:

• If he was actually shot in the ear -- even grazed -- by an AR 15 caliber bullet, why was there no more serious damage to his ear, face or head?
  

• Why did the Secret Service and law enforcement not respond to eyewitness reports of the gunman on top of that factory roof only 150 yards away and take that guy down before he had a chance to shoot? He was in view of Secret Service snipers on top of other buildings nearby.
  

• Why did the Secret Service appear to move photographers closer to the stage just before the "pop, pop, pops" were heard? Did that really happen?
  

• If the report is true that Trump's ear was bloodied by shards of glass from the teleprompter being hit by a bullet, rather than him being grazed by a bullet, where are the photos of that teleprompter?
  

• Why did the Secret Service personnel who surrounded Trump allow him to do his fist pump and create that now famous photo that's being plastered all over the media? It appears that in doing so, he opened himself up to being shot again if there was an accomplice out there.

• Did this 20-year-old kid, a registered Republican, act alone? Did he cook this up all by himself? If so, why? He couldn't have thought that he'd get away with it.

• Why did those Secret Service agents on the Trump detail not have ear pieces for communication? Photos from the scene appear to show that they did not. If that was the case, how could they know there was not another shooter ready to finish the job?

• Why were his shoes off? And if he had just been shot, why did he care about his shoes?
  

• How was it possible that just an hour after the incident T-shirts with that image were for sale on the Internet?
  

The Truth will Out

Whatever the truth, it will emerge -- it always does. There will be multiple investigations, no doubt Congressional hearings, and hopefully we will know the truth.

But the question is when and how? Already, the incident -- staged or not -- is playing in favor of Trump at absolutely the worst time for Biden, whose candidacy is threatened because of continued questions about his health and mental capacity.

What was the first thing Biden's campaign announced? That their anti-Trump ads would be pulled as soon as possible. It was a decent response, one out of respect for the former president. But what did the Republicans do? Sen. J. D. Vance (R-OH), before Trump picked him as his vice presidential nominee, wrote on X:

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Declared Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-TX), "Trump-deranged Left wing LUNATICS that parade around MSNBC and other FAKE NEWS “outlets” demonizing Trump and calling him Hitler are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for this violent attack on President Trump’s life!! They have BLOOD on their hands. ENOUGH of the VIOLENT RHETORIC! AMERICA IS PISSED!!!!"

Pissed

Yes, Mr. Congressman, America is pissed. We're sick and tired of Trump's hate-filled rhetoric and that of irresponsible politicians like you. We're sick and tired of our fellow citizens being suckered by the serial charlatan, Donald J. Trump.

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger wrote on X following the incident, "The Trump campaign and surrogates will try to intimidate Biden supporters from going after the former President politically. Do not let up. Trump is a threat to democracy and he must be stopped. Every rational person knows that means politically. DO NOT let them twist your words and intimidate you. Trump must be beaten at the ballot box."

Listen to him.