After Trump shooting, organization works to combat online conspiracy theories

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It only took a few minutes after the attempt on Donald Trump's life for the first conspiracy theories to appear on social media.

But there is an organization working to set the record straight, and separate fact from fiction.

Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, posted to X on Saturday: "Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."

The organization Moonshot uses advertisements on social platforms to engage with people online that are radicalizing and openly considering violence.

"In the immediate aftermath of this particular attack, we saw an immediate increase in conspiracy theories related to the event itself," says Vidhya Ramalingam, co-founder of Moonshot.

"We're in a context right now where the acceptance of political violence has become normalized."

Georgia Congressman Mike Collins posted moments after the shooting: "Joe Biden sent the orders."

A top political adviser to Democratic billionaire Reid Hoffman apologized and condemned the attack after floating a conspiracy theory via email that the assassination attempt could've been staged by Trump. That memo was first reported by Semafor.

In 2020, Moonshot saw a 15% increase in mentions of suicide from Qanon followers that alienated themselves from loved ones, after those so-called prophecies were proven false and never came to fruition.

Now, moonshot is reporting an 800% increase in calls for civil war within 24 hours after the assassination attempt.

"In addition to that, what we're seeing is broad-based conspiracy theories, either attempting to paint the attack as being staged or as a false flag."

"It's never too late to stop this kind of violence. We just need to get there first."