WASHINGTON, D.C. — False conspiracy theories circulated on social media following Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C., with posts questioning whether the assassination attempt was staged. There is no evidence suggesting that the attempt was staged.

President Donald Trump addressed the claims directly. "Usually it takes a little bit longer. Usually they wait about two or three months to start saying that," Trump said.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle rejected the theories in stronger terms. "Anyone who thinks President Trump staged his own assassination attempts is a complete moron," Ingle said.

Among those amplifying the speculation online, Alex Jones posted the message "Was The Trump Whitehouse Corespondents Dinner Shooting Staged??" Progressive podcasters Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan released an episode headlined "Major False Flags Revealed In Trump Shooting Aftermath, He's Hiding From the Public?"

Trump has promoted conspiracy theories of his own. He promoted the "birther" theory targeting then-President Barack Obama, advanced claims about a "deep state" operating within the government, and continues to push false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump is also increasingly the subject of conspiracy theories on both the left and the right.

The reaction to Saturday's shooting comes as Trump's job approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in his second term. In April, 83% of Republicans approved of his job performance, down 4 percentage points from earlier this year. The share of Republicans who strongly approved of his job performance dropped from 58% to 52%.