The assassination attempt against Donald Trump was the peak point of polarization which characterizes this pre-election period in the USA while at the same time the conflicting conspiracy theories of supporters of the two opposing camps revealed the division of American society.

For some supporters of Donald Trump, the failure of the Secret Service to prevent an assassination attempt on the Republican former president points to a conspiracy that orchestrated by Democratic President Joe Biden. For some of Trump’s critics, however, the details of the shooting don’t add up, and they have raised suspicions that Trump staged the whole thing.

Two conflicting conspiracy theories are making the rounds online after Trump’s assassination attempt, one for each end of America’s polarized political spectrum. Under these conditions, Americans increasingly choose their own reality, at the expense of the common understanding of the facts.

Case in point is Ron Basilian, who is one of many Republicans who question how the perpetrator, Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to climb onto the roof of a building shooting directly at Trump and if authorities were looking the other way to allow the attempt.

The authorities have not released any information about it Crooks’ possible motive, although they stated that they believe he acted alone. But the authorities’ lack of details and growing questions about the Secret Service’s management have led “cyber pundits” to speculate – often in ways that reveal their own ideological leanings.

Some of the allegations about the shooting have already been debunked. Despite claims that the Secret Service refused to provide Trump with additional security ahead of the rally, the agency announced that it had in fact increased staffing.

A post by someone claiming to be a police sniper at the rally and claiming they had been ordered not to shoot at the gunman was debunked after it emerged no sniper named by his name was working on Saturday. And a photo purported to show an unharmed Trump after the rally turned out to be from 2022.

The attempted assassination of Trump is just the latest example in a series of major events that have sparked conspiracy theories, which also include the JFK assassination, the moon landing, the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Many of the claims about the attempted assassination of Trump first appeared on fringe social media platforms before moving to larger sites like X or TikTok, where they were seen by far more people.

The misinformation was then amplified by online trolls, politicians, large online accounts and online merchants trying to sell merchandise linked to the assassination attempt.