TDS Is Real: New Survey Shows How Many Americans Think Trump Assassination Attempts Were Staged

The left loves to portray conservatives as a bunch of tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists. The problem with that is the fact that all of our "conspiracies" keep turning out to be real. But a new survey just out on Monday puts into question just exactly who the real conspiracy theorists might be. It also gives more credence to the idea that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a real thing.

Assassinations + political violence are real.

My party can’t be the tin foil hat brigade.

I was there a table away and I promise you, this was not staged. pic.twitter.com/JWcOK0jf7o
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) May 11, 2026

The survey was done by NewsGuard, a company that rates the credibility of online news outlets. It was conducted by YouGov, which polled 1,000 Americans between April 28 and May 4. The results are, well...interesting. When looking at the most recent attempt on the life of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) in April, approximately one in four Americans believe the incident was staged. When broken down along party lines, the results are predictable, with one in three Democrats who think it was staged and one in eight Republicans believing that. My colleague Ward Clark reported on Monday that the alleged shooter in the case, Cole Allen, has entered a not guilty plea.

The survey goes on to say that 24 percent of U.S. adults believe that the WHCD shooting was not real, and 45 percent believe it was, with 32 percent saying they were not sure. Sofia Rubinson, a NewsGuard editor, said this of the survey:

“It’s very striking,” said Sofia Rubinson, an editor at NewsGuard. The results underscore broader skepticism that Americans feel toward the government and the press, she said. “Increasingly, people on all sides of the political spectrum are distrustful of both this administration and also the media,” she said, but willing to trust unverified information they see online.

42 percent of Democrats believe the Butler, PA assassination attempt on President Trump was staged.

This isn't a small group. Massive numbers of Democrat voters are living in a complete state of delusion. https://t.co/DtDEfP71pK pic.twitter.com/jgoCPp58EW
— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) May 11, 2026

But the WHCD attempt is not the only one that Americans believe was staged. Regarding the July 2024 attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, 24 percent believe it was staged, with 42 percent of Democrats believing it was fake, and only seven percent of Republicans who think it was fake. Of all the attempts, it is surprising that people would think this was not real. Perhaps those people should ask Corey Comperatore's family, as well as the others who were wounded that day, if they, too, think the whole thing was staged?

The survey showed that 16 percent said they believed the assassination attempt on Trump at his golf club in Florida was not real, which broke down to 26 percent of Democrats and seven percent of Republicans. Regarding all three attempts, 21 percent of Democrats said they were staged, 11 percent of independents, and three percent of Republicans.

ALSO READ: That Ironic Moment Liberal Media Realizes Even Their Base Isn't Believing Them After WHCD Shooting

"Experts" give lots of reasons for the survey results, like mistrust in the government and a general increase in conspiratorial thinking becoming more common. But then there was the one who kind of gave the real reason away. Boston University professor Joan Donovan, who studies "media manipulation," aka media bias, talked about "the showmanship" of Donald Trump's presidency, and that “The entire apparatus of the government has been turned into a reality TV show.” With a large portion of the country suffering from that kind of end-stage TDS, the results of the survey are to be expected.

It is the realm of mental health professionals to determine why someone would believe assassination attempts are fake. But this level of TDS is very real and very dangerous.

“It was just another hoax” says the people that really realllly want President Trump to be killed pic.twitter.com/0biSLOo65D
— James Klüg (@jamesklug) May 11, 2026

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