Conspiracy theories thrive amid chaos of correspondents’ dinner shooting
Within minutes of the shooting, baseless “false flag” claims flooded social media — claims that were propelled in part by President Donald Trump himself.
Within minutes of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, a false flag conspiracy theory began to spread on social media.
Users latched onto a quote from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a red carpet interview that aired on Fox News in the hours leading up to the dinner.
“It’ll be funny, it’ll be entertaining, there will be some shots fired tonight,” she said with a grin. “Everyone should tune in, it’s going to be really great.”
The “shots fired” line was very clearly a reference to the upcoming speeches at the dinner, which serves as an annual venue for prominent comedians, journalists and presidents to roast each other on stage. This was Donald Trump’s first appearance as president, and given his well-documented distaste for the media, he was almost certain to trade some rhetorical salvos with his audience.
Instead, real shots were fired outside the underground ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel, where hundreds of people were seated before the president.
By Sunday afternoon, investigators and White House officials — including the president himself — had already released a trove of information, including the suspect’s name and photos. They also divulged clues to his alleged motive and targets, which may have included Trump and administration officials. But in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, when no tangible evidence was available, the conspiracists of the internet turned their attention to the Leavitt quote.
“False flag confirmed,” wrote user @ProudSocialist on X, an account with nearly half a million followers.
The baseless false flag claim — that the shooting was orchestrated to somehow benefit the Trump administration — spread quickly across social media, fueled in part by a number of legitimate news outlets raising questions about Leavitt’s quote in headlines. Trump himself propelled the claim by offering the shooting as a reason to fund his expensive and tumultuous White House ballroom project, parts of which are paused because of a legal ruling.
The baseless false flag claim — that the shooting was orchestrated to somehow benefit the Trump administration — spread quickly across social media, fueled in part by a number of legitimate news outlets raising questions about Leavitt’s quote in headlines
“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” he posted Sunday on Truth Social. “It cannot be built fast enough!”
Saturday’s event in particular was fertile ground for conspiracy theories to thrive; content creators and armchair detectives had already spun fantastical narratives about the other times Trump was targeted by shooters — this attack has already served to crystallize those beliefs, even though the target is not yet clear.
Adding fuel to the conspiracy fire, dozens of prominent right-wing X accounts — including current and former Trump administration officials — posted what appeared to be a coordinated campaign of support for Trump’s ballroom in the moments after the incident.
“We MUST have the Ballroom completed to protect @POTUS and his guests,” wrote former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump fired weeks ago.
MAGA accounts tweet in unison about the need for a White House ballroom following WHCD incident pic.twitter.com/3acgko7qv3
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 26, 2026
Since then, lawmakers and administration officials echoed the right-wing accounts on X, also calling for the ballroom to be built as a safer alternative for mass gatherings that include the president, given arguments about security lapses surrounding the dinner.
We were there front and center.
That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.
After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these. pic.twitter.com/eeUBnlSe5y— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 26, 2026
This was confirmation enough for a section of the internet that’s desperate to identify a shadowy cabal behind every big news event. On Bluesky, a liberal-leaning alternative to X, dozens of accounts posted the word ‘STAGED’ repeatedly through Saturday night and Sunday.
“Wait … it looks like a false flag to justify a ballroom,” wrote one X account with 300,000 followers. “He’s used to getting what he wants at ANY and all costs!!”
Andy Campbell
Andy Campbell is the Senior Enterprise Editor for MS NOW Digital. He is the author of "We Are Proud Boys: How a right-wing street gang ushered in a new era of American extremism."
Full Story : The Truth About the Axe in the Funeral Home
The funeral home was too beautiful for the terror hiding inside it.
Cream-colored walls glowed beneath soft lights. White flowers surrounded the glossy white coffin like a cloud. Gold handles shone along its sides, and a large floral arrangement rested neatly on the lid, as if beauty could make death easier to accept.
Around the coffin, mourners stood in black formal clothes, silent and stiff, their eyes lowered in practiced grief.
At the front of the room stood the widow.
Margaret Vale wore a black funeral dress, pearl earrings, and a mourning veil that softened her sharp face but could not hide the tension in her mouth. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, but her fingers kept tightening against each other.
Behind her stood a male mourner in a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His face was pale, his posture uncertain, as if he was waiting for something to go wrong.
Then the doors burst open.
A woman in an orange work uniform stepped into the room.
Her name was Claire Mason.
Her messy light brown hair was tied back. Her pale face looked exhausted, as if she had not slept in days. A white apron hung over her uniform, stained faintly from work. In both hands, she gripped a wood-handled axe.
Gasps moved through the guests.
Margaret turned sharply beneath her veil.
“No,” she whispered.
Claire walked straight toward the coffin.
A few mourners stepped back. Someone dropped a program onto the polished floor. The male mourner behind Margaret moved forward, but he stopped when he saw Claire’s face.
She was not confused.
She was not hysterical.
She looked shattered, but certain.
Margaret’s voice rose in panic. “Stop her!”
Claire lifted the axe above her head.
“Open it!”
The blade came down hard onto the glossy white coffin lid.
The impact cracked through the room like thunder.
The white flower arrangement shook violently. A golden handle rattled. A jagged line split across the polished surface of the lid. Several guests cried out and stumbled backward.
Claire stood over the coffin, breathing hard, both hands still locked around the axe handle.
Margaret clutched her chest.
The male mourner stared in disbelief.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Claire slowly looked up at him.
Her eyes were wet, but they did not break.
“What they buried,” she said, “isn’t the truth.”
