The whole world watched Trump avoid assassination. The conspiracy theories have already started.

In the 24 hours since former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a rally in Pennsylvania, the reminder that we are living in a post-truth world has clanged louder than ever.

Here's what we know (although many of these facts are being hotly contested online as this article goes live):

• At around 6:13pm at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, loud noises were heard in the crowd.
• Videos show Trump clutching his ear before being tackled to the ground by Secret Service agents in order to protect him. He later released a statement confirming he was hit by a "bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear".
• Two people, including the gunman, were killed, and two remain in critical condition.
• The gunman has been named by the FBI as Thomas Michael Crooks - who is a registered Republican voter.
• The crowd member who was killed has been identified as Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter who was reportedly shot while attempting to shield his family from the bullets. So far, $700,000 has been raised for his family.

Of course, in our endless hunger for details, wherever there exists a vacuum of information, misinformation flourishes. In a presidential race already mired in conspiracy theories and deep public mistrust, it's little wonder that some wild ideas about what actually went on in Butler have taken hold.

Watch: US President Joe Biden addresses the nation following the Trump assassination attempt. Post continues after video.

Conspiracy theory #1: Biden ordered the hit.

Within minutes of news breaking about the alleged assassination attempt, X (formerly Twitter) was ablaze with both veiled finger-pointing and outright accusations. Republican congressman Mike Collines posted "Biden sent the orders" alongside a screenshot of a quote from President Biden in which he mentions "putting Donald Trump in a bullseye".

It has been posted thousands of times in the intervening 24 hours, and viewed over 13 million times, in spite of the fact that the quote Collins referenced as 'proof' of Biden being behind the shooting was taken out of context, and referred to targeting the former president politically, not physically.

The theory that Biden - or at the very least, powerbrokers within the democrats - ordered the hit, has been taken up online by people on both sides of politics, with Trump supporters claiming the shooting was an attempt by the left to 'silence' Trump for his work trying to "take down elite satanic paedophiles", a reference to the Q-Anon conspiracy theory that Washington is home to a satanic cabal of child molesters and murderers.

The phrases "Deep state" and "civil war" both trended on X in the hours following the shooting.

Conspiracy theory #2: Trump staged the shooting.

The fact that Trump escaped with a milder injury than your average six-year-old who dropped into Lovisa for their first pair of sleeper earrings had many suggesting that the entire thing was a fake orchestrated by the Trump campaign. Subscribers to this particular theory differ somewhat in their thoughts as to a motive here - some claiming Trump faked it in an attempt to bolster support, others claiming it was an act to incite civil war or even to look anointed by God as he walked away virtually unscathed.

The fact that three crowd members were also shot - one fatally - doesn't appear to dampen this particular theory, with online commentators pointing to the behaviour of Secret Service operatives—namely the way in which Trump was held up to perform the already-infamous pose, backdropped by the American flag with his fist raised in triumph and captured by Associated Press chief photographer Evan Vucci—as proof that they saw no real threat.

Former US President Donald Trump was shot at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Image: AAP.

While the realm of conspiracy theories has often been associated with far-right politics and Q-Anon, the increase in conspiracy theories on the left has been dubbed 'Blue-Anon', in what commentators say is worrying proof that neither side of politics has faith in public institutions or the media.

"This is how the Secret Service reacted in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot," posted author and former White House aide Keith Boykin on X, alongside a video showing security operatives shielding the former president with their bodies and refusing to get up again.

His post was met with a slew of comments agreeing that the reaction of Trump's protective officers didn't seem congruent with trained officials who perceived a real threat, including the reposting of an image that appeared to show Secret Service operatives smiling as they held a triumphant Trump aloft, his head and chest exposed.

The image, however, appears to have been doctored, with X's fact-check tool adding links to the original image, where no smiles are evident.

It's worth noting here that President Biden has announced an independent review into the actions of the Secret Service, and how an alleged shooter was able to get nearly-catastrophic access to a presidential candidate.

Conspiracy theory #3: A 1992 film predicted it.

Further fuelling speculation that the shooting was staged, conspiracy theorists have unearthed the 1992 film Bob Roberts, pointing to its plot - where a conservative politician running for the senate in Pennsylvania stages an assassination attempt in order to win the election.

Tim Robbins, the film's star and director, was quick to lambast proponents of this theory, writing on X:

To anyone drawing a parallel between my film Bob Roberts and the attempted assassination of Trump, let’s be clear. What happened yesterday was a real attempt on a presidential candidate’s life.
Those that are denying the assassination attempt was real are truly in a deranged…

— Tim Robbins (@TimRobbins1) July 14, 2024

Conspiracy theory #4: Thomas Michael Crooks was not the real shooter.

While the FBI has confirmed the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Michael Crooks, who was fatally shot by police at the rally, speculation online questioning his identity ran rampant.

Images circulating of the ear of the shooter - covered in blood after he had been killed - and an earlier picture of Thomas Michael Crooks were compared, with some claiming it 'proved' the shooter was someone else entirely.

With Crooks' motive still unknown and a distinct lack of social media information about him online, claims of ties to Antifa, the CIA and several high-profile political players from Obama to Mike Pence have taken hold.

The proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories has reached such a fever pitch that it appears that many have forsaken the search for truth entirely, instead accepting the idea that facts are far less important than the way in which either side is able to spin them.

Social media researcher and conspiracy theory specialist, Dr Joanne Gray agrees. "I think it's really important that we be diligent about what we consume, and I think that requires slowing down," she says.

"So this is really fast paced, and that's what digital technology allows us to do, lots of content, quickly, at scale worldwide. What we need to do is, when we are exposed to something by an algorithm, we really need to slow down and think, Is this credible? Do I need to consume it? Is this something that I need to share, and really just take time to process and step away from that environment, rather than getting swept up in the barrage of content that we have sent to us in our digital spaces."

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Conspiracy theory #5: the Bible predicted it

Okay, this one is wild - but there is a theory gaining traction among the alt-right after Jack Prosobiec, best-known for publishing the #pizzagate theory about Hilary Clinton, posted the following on X:

"The bullets were fired at 6:11pm. Ephesians 6:11."

For those not well-versed in their biblical stories, Ephesians 6:11 reads: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Fellow right-winger and politico-religious activist Charlie Kirk responded to the post with his own biblical quote, writing:

"The next verse is this: 'For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

*Deep breaths*.

In spite of the fact that - as a friend pointed out - "there are heaps of 6:11 chapters in The Bible" - it sure makes Trump's claim that "God alone saved me" more meaningful to those who see him as some kind of modern deity. 

In the wake of yesterday's assassination attempt, which set of “facts” will end up reigning supreme still remains to be seen, which is in and of itself a truth just as terrifying as any other act of political violence.

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Feature image: AAP.