New Poll: 42% of Democrats Think Butler Assassination Attempt on Trump Was Staged

In this Legal Insurrection article, Elizabeth Stauffer highlights a NewsGuard/YouGov poll showing that large numbers of Americans—especially Democrats—believe or are unsure whether recent assassination attempts against President Donald Trump were real.

• A NewsGuard/YouGov survey found that 42% of Democrats said they believed the July 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt against Trump was staged.
• Overall, 24% of respondents said they thought the Butler attack was staged, 47% said it was real, and 29% were unsure.
• The poll also examined a reported April 2026 attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where 34% of Democrats, 23% of independents, and 13% of Republicans said they believed it was staged.
• The survey found that only 38% of Americans believed all three assassination attempts against Trump were authentic.
• Stauffer argues there is no credible evidence supporting claims that the Butler shooting was staged, pointing to eyewitness accounts, video footage, Secret Service response, forensic findings, Trump’s injury, and the death of Corey Comperatore.
• The article frames the poll results as evidence of deep political delusion and hostility among Trump’s opponents.
• Stauffer also cites Newt Gingrich’s criticism of Democrats, using his comments to suggest that the party’s base has become increasingly detached from reality.
• The piece concludes that live gunfire, real casualties, and chaotic public conditions make the “staged” theory implausible.

Read the full story: https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/05/new-poll-42-of-democrats-think-butler-assassination-attempt-on-trump-was-staged/