We here at National Zero do our best to verify the information we publish here “above the fold,” either through sources we rely on or through double- or triple-checking stories we find on social media or other parts of the internet. While we’re admittedly not “Ivory pure” at 99.99% accuracy, we’re pretty good at not falling into rabbit holes.
Not all the Interwebs can say that, with a portion of dead-named Twitter falling prey to what the Washington Post called “BlueAnon” conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania. As those who witnessed in the comments, we’re not immune to the skepticism. (The author was open to them, too: he turned to his wife during the aftermath after photos of a bloodied Trump filled the screen and said they should check his hands for a pin.)
From gel packs of blood, to curiously-long exits off stage, to people speculating it was a ballet choreographed by the Kremlin to win the White House, we all considered it in the hours after the shooting. But we’re not shooting up pizza parlors to prove our conspiracies.