Facts compete with conspiracy theories after WHCD attack

(CNN) No sooner had a gunman tried to storm the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place Saturday night, than social media was awash with conspiracy theories about what was still unfolding in real time.

From the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2024 to the LA fires last year, just about every major national breaking news story in the United States today becomes instant fodder for online conspiracy theorists who are often seeking to blame events on their perceived political opponents.

Some of the best-known journalists in the country were gathered in the Hilton ballroom on Saturday night and immediately got to work establishing the facts of what had happened.

But immediately — before anything was known about the suspect and his motives — the word “staged” started to emerge as a trend across social media platforms.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/27/politics/conspiracy-theories-whcd-attack