Trump Claims 2024 Assassination Attempt Was Democratic Plot

WASHINGTON (VINnews) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed without providing evidence that the 2024 assassination attempt against him was part of a Democratic plot involving then-President Joe Biden and former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Trump made the accusation in a post on Truth Social, saying the FBI under Biden failed to properly investigate Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who opened fire at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.

Trump said that by the time he returned to the White House in January 2025, information related to the investigation was “missing, altered, corrupted, or gone.” He said newly discovered information showed that the shooting was part of a plot intended to remove him from the 2024 presidential race.

“This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed,” Trump wrote. He also called Wray a “Dirty Cop” and said the former FBI director should “pay a price” for his handling of the investigation.

Trump did not identify evidence showing that Biden, Wray or Democratic Party officials were involved in planning or facilitating the attack. There is no public evidence establishing such a connection.

Crooks fired multiple shots from a rooftop near the Butler rally, striking Trump in the ear. Rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed and two other people, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were wounded. A Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks at the scene.

The FBI immediately opened an investigation into the shooting as an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism. Investigators examined Crooks’ electronic devices, internet activity, social media accounts, search history, residence and vehicle, and interviewed hundreds of witnesses and law enforcement officers.

In an early briefing, FBI investigators said they were specifically examining whether Crooks acted alone or had worked with co-conspirators. The bureau said at that stage that there was no identified motive and that Crooks was not previously known to the FBI.

Investigators found that Crooks had searched online for information about previous political assassinations, including how far Lee Harvey Oswald was from President John F. Kennedy when Kennedy was killed. He also searched for information involving mass shootings, explosives, power plants and the attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister. The FBI said searches involving political figures were also found and were being analyzed as part of the investigation.

Newly surfaced FBI records about Crooks’ background have renewed attention on the case. Reports based on documents provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley say investigators interviewed Crooks’ father and documented the young man’s increasing interest in firearms and increasingly secretive behavior. The records, however, do not establish that Crooks was acting on behalf of Democrats or that Democratic officials were involved in the attack.

Trump’s accusation also comes as his administration and congressional investigators continue to examine the FBI’s handling of the Butler investigation. The FBI’s original investigation focused on determining Crooks’ motive and whether he had accomplices, while questions about security failures at the rally were treated separately.

The Butler shooting was one of two apparent assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 campaign. A separate incident occurred later that year at Trump’s golf club in Florida. Trump has previously suggested that foreign actors, including Iran, could have been connected to threats against him, but no evidence presented publicly has established that Biden or Democratic officials organized the Butler shooting.

Trump’s latest claim represents a significant escalation in his allegations about the circumstances surrounding the attack. He has offered no specific evidence in his Truth Social post to substantiate his assertion that the shooting was designed by Democrats to force him out of the presidential election.