This conspiracy theory that Trump staged this 2024 assassination attempt just isn't going away. "DID TRUMP STAGE HIS OWN ASSASSINATION TO INFLUENCE VOTERS?".

Let handle the CSI first: WHY WOULD TRUMP DO THIS?

To gain sympathy. A majority of Americans were turned off by his January 6 insurrection, his 30,000 plus lies, his two impeachments, etc. Polls showed Trump's chances of winning a second term were slim. He needed something that would turn people's opinions to the possibility HE was a good guy and the "enemy within" was bad. It worked.

HOW WOULD THIS BE EXECUTED SO THAT THE PUBLIC BELIEVED IT?

This is complicated. The assassination attempt would have to be done in front of thousands of witnesses, and millions watching TV. The shots, the position of Trump in relation to the shooter all had to be plausible.

THE CONSPIRACY:

Every president travels with an army of security by his side. More of his security is unseen than seen. There are also paramilitary personnel within feet of him at all times.

As far as presidential candidates are concerned? Their security is much less impressive. They're lucky to have a couple armed guards near them. Trump being a former president had more than the normal candidate and still he had the benefit of much of the above mentioned AND top security information about threats against him. If there were viable threats Trump's security would have been on edge. They apparently were not...

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old shot and grazed Donald Trump's ear during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Crooks fired from a nearby rooftop with an AR-15-style rifle, killing one bystander before being killed by a Secret Service countersniper.

* The possibility of a person carrying an assault rifle into a former president's rally is questionable. He would probably be confronted and shot in the parking lot.

* The possibility a person climbed a roof with an AR, crawled to a spot within eye-shot of a former president is questionable. Snipers are positioned above all structures and watch focus spots determined to be vantage points for shooters. Unless the security snipers were on break this is not probable.

* The coverage of the shooting was extensive but the identity of the shooter was concealed AND it is suspicious his body was disposed of quickly after. Crime investigators have suggested this to be a "cover-up"

* The ear. Trump's ear had blood on it. But photos showed that changed after the shooting. And, there was little or no permanent damage. AR wounds don't heal this way.

MY UNCERTAINTY:

I'm 75 percent convinced this person tried to become famous by killing a presidential candidate. This is a sick deadly "trend" we've seen where young males (mostly) take their online gaming first-person shooting arcade view of life into the real world.

25 percent of me thinks yes, the actions of the administration regarding this assassination attempt was strange. The shooters motives have not been made public. And the fact his body was "eliminated" so quickly and silently smells fishy.

I question the Secret Service's reaction. If you view past assassinations/attempts, Reagan, Ruby, Wallace the protectors around immediately formed "outward circles" focusing on trying to determine the position of the shooter. Trump's team did the opposite. They formed a tight inward circle around him with their backs exposed. These people have families to go home to, unless they were martyrs they would be not only scanning the scene for the shooter but facing outward so their kevlar protective armaments protected themselves too.

Trump's team seemed to be doing something they were concealing from view.