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Trump Baselessly Claims Assassination Attempt Was ‘Democrat Plot’ Against Him

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President Donald Trump baselessly claimed on Tuesday that the July 2024 assassination attempt against him was a plot by Democrats, including then-President Joe Biden and FBI Director Chris Wray, to push him out of the election.

The president posted on Truth Social that Biden's FBI "didn't do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA," referring to gunman Thomas Crooks, who was 20 years old when he shot at Trump during a campaign rally, grazing his ear, killing a bystander and injuring two others before the Secret Service fatally shot him.

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"By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone. New info was just found!" he continued. "This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed."

Trump also called Wray, whom he hired to lead the FBI during his first term, a "Dirty Cop" who "should pay a price for the way he handled the assassination attempt, and certainly for the things he said."

Neither Biden nor Wray appear to have responded.

It's unclear what information Trump is allegedly referring to as altered or missing in this startling accusation. Trump suggested months after the shooting that Iran was tied to the attempt, telling rallygoers that if he were president he would tell Iran that "we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens."

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Biden's FBI swiftly investigated Crooks over the assassination attempt, as well as another apparent attempt that occurred later that year at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida. The former president, as well as many Democrats, denounced the "sick" attempts on Trump's life and condemned all forms of political violence.

The FBI found that Crooks appeared to have acted alone, with no immediate ideological motive, and concluded its probe in November 2025 under Trump's second term.

FBI records provided to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and reviewed Monday by The New York Post include interviews with Crooks' father, who said his son rarely expressed any emotions and that they "never really had a father/son bond." HuffPost has not independently reviewed the files.

It should be noted that Trump has historically only condemned one side of political violence, having encouraged his followers to storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent Congress from certifying the election for Biden. Trump has pardoned many of the rioters who faced criminal consequences for attempting the insurrection.