Fox News Poll: 30% think recent Trump assassination attempt was staged

By Fox News · Fox News

Three in 10 voters believe the recent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was staged, according to a Fox News national survey. Thirty percent say the shooting was fabricated, including 13% of voters who think it was "definitely" staged. That said, a narrow 52% majority believes the attack was real, with nearly one-third saying it "definitely" happened (31%). One in five is unsure whether it was real or fake (18%). FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SEE AI AS A RISK TO PRIVACY AND PAYCHECKS The alleged gunman behind the April 25 attack, Cole Tomas Allen, has pleaded not guilty to the four felony charges filed against him by the Justice Department. The incident marked the third attempt on Trump’s life, following two separate assassination attempts in 2024. Public attitudes surrounding the attack suggest the erosion of a shared reality may have reached a critical tipping point. Most notably, the partisan divide on the attack’s authenticity is stark. The survey finds almost half of Democrats (49%) and voters who backed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024 (48%) believe the shooting was staged, while just 10% of Republicans say the same. Meanwhile, 79% of Republicans believe the event was real, as do 77% of 2024 Trump voters. That number climbs to 87% among Republicans who identify as MAGA supporters. By comparison, just 31% of Democrats agree the attack was real. Views among independents are mixed: 41% say it was real and 34% believe it was staged. Uncertainty about whether the incident was real or not is highest among independents, with one quarter unsure (25%), followed by 2 in 10 Democrats (21%), and 1 in 10 Republicans (11%). FOX NEWS POLL: 56% DOUBT WHITE HOUSE’S COMPETENCE AT MANAGING GOVERNMENT Republicans under age 45 are more than five times as likely as older Republicans to think the shooting was staged (22% vs. 4%). Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News polls with De…