The Internet as an unreliable witness Rumors in Taiwan and the Chinese-language media regarding the attempted assassination of Trump

By Wei-Ping Li, Ph.D.

Following the significant developments in the US presidential election campaign, the past July saw a non-stop flood of false information. Some fake stories widespread in English quickly transcended language barriers and surfaced in the Taiwanese media ecosystem and the Chinese-language media universe. The dissemination of the rumors offers a glimpse of what subjects of the US election appeal to Chinese-language viewers. 

The most common rumors in July, without surprise, concerned Trump's assassination, particularly the identity of the Trump shooter. In contrast, the US disinformation and conspiracy theories of Joe Biden's withdrawal and attacks on Kamala Harris for being a potential Democratic presidential candidate have not rippled through the Taiwanese and Chinese media systems. 

The attempted assassination of Trump on July 13th was the first news event to cause a surge of conspiracy theories on the English-speaking internet from all political stripes. Several American right-wing activists and politicians spread the disinformation that the Biden administration or Antifa was responsible for the incident, whereas left-leaning social media accounts claimed that the event was staged.  

In Taiwan, the most often shared rumors on social media sites such as Facebook, LINE, and the online forum PTT—which many Taiwanese people use—were concerning the identity of the gunman. Several posts claimed an Antifa member was the perpetrator. For instance, a PTT user uploaded a picture of a man claiming to be the offender: "The American fat otaku even posted a video to give a heads-up of the crime [美國肥宅犯罪還PO影片預告]!" Posts featuring the picture also emerged on social media X and a Hong Kong-based online forum, with comments in simplified Chinese suggesting the shooter belonged to the Antifa group. 

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Another false piece, also written in simplified Chinese, was posted to X and claimed that the gunman was "Maxwell Yearick," connected to Antifa and once arrested in Pittsburg for participation in an anti-Trump demonstration. Both disinformation pieces could be traced to social media posts that had been widely spread in the English-language world.

Other posts revealing the "identity of the shooter," which were originally intended to be a "trolling attempt," also fooled Taiwanese social media users and even mainstream media. For instance, a user had posted his own pictures and a video, claiming himself to be the assassination perpetrator who despised Trump and the Republican Party. Fact-checkers soon debunked this piece as a prank. However, several Taiwanese media outlets picked up the materials from American tabloids and social media accounts of far-right personalities and relayed the wrong picture, claiming the person in the photo was the shooter. Not only Taiwan but several Chinese state media outlets used this prank video as the "shooter's statement" and shared the video on the state media's official WeChat accounts. 

A screenshot of a news segment from a Taiwanese media outlet concerning the shooter’s identity in Trump’s shooting. The photo on the right was from an X user, who, out of a trolling attempt, posted his photo and claimed to be the shooter. 

As far-right activists and Trump supporters wrongfully claimed that the Biden administration engineered the attack on Trump, these disinformation pieces also made their way to the Taiwanese and Chinese social media spheres. For example, false messages promoted by the fringe social platform 4chan claimed the head of the Secret Service Agent refused to give the order to an agent named "Jonathan Willis" to hit the shooter. The Taiwanese media also amplified another accusation promoted by the far-right X user Dom Lucre, who asserted that a female sitting behind Trump during the rally was an FBI female agent and seemed to give the shooters instructions secretively. 

As for the disinformation spread by the left, the assertion that the assassination of Trump was fake was also propagated among Chinese accounts on X. For instance, a post claimed the incident was phony and included images to show that Trump's right ear appeared absolutely normal the day after the shooting. 

One of the false claims about the shooter's identity even touched the nerves of the American Chinese community. An article by the New York Post published shortly after the shooting falsely stated that the shooter was Chinese. This article triggered massive discontent in the American Chinese community, although the Post later corrected the information with an apology note. The incorrect article has been circulated on social media, including Taiwan's PTT online forum. (Note 1).

As previously noted in this analysis, most of the false pieces circulated in Taiwan and other Chinese-language media ecosystems were from English sources, such as X accounts or fringe media platforms. Social media users introduced these incorrect claims into the Chinese-language world; mainstream media even amplified some of them. Nevertheless, there were also "locally-made" false claims in the Chinese language about the Trump assassination. 

One example is a video asserting that Trump’s assassination was because Trump praised China. This video, which circulated on Douyin, YouTube, and Facebook, showed an interview in which Trump lauded Huawei's achievement, the outstanding performance of the Chinese soccer team, and China's overall prosperity. In the video, Trump even attacked Wall Street, comparing it to blood-sucking vampires. A caption accompanying the video read: "This interview was conducted three days before the assassination. It would be strange if you [Trump] were not assassinated," implying that Trump was assassinated due to his pro-China remarks. 

The fact is, the footage was old and had previously spread in 2023. Additionally, the item was an AI-manipulated deepfake based on a genuine video of an interview segment from American media outlet NBC News. In the first version of this deepfake video, Trump's lip movements and voice were altered to make it appear as if he praised Huawei. The Taiwan FactCheck Center debunked the first version of this deepfake video in October 2023. Following Trump's assassination, the video reappeared, but this time with a new title that specifically linked it to the assassination event. 

A screenshot of a deepfake video circulated on Douyin, YouTube, and Facebook, which asserted that Trump may have been shot for his statement praising China.

In contrast to the false information relevant to Trump's assassination, disinformation or conspiracy theories regarding other notable US election events in July that went viral in the English-speaking world have been rarely seen in the Chinese disinformation universe. For example, there have been very few pieces of disinformation about Biden's withdrawal (such as the rumor that Biden was rushed to the hospital because of a critical emergency instead of COVID) and the disinformation attacks on Kamala Harris's racial identity and career after she became the most promising Democratic presidential nominee. 

One possible explanation is that these rumors are about very American and nuanced social-political contexts, such as the citizenship requirements to become president and the complex gender and racial issues in the current American society. As the flow of disinformation and conspiracy theories across national and cultural boundaries frequently hinges on emotions, identities, and uncomplicated story plots, the recent conspiracy theories regarding Kamala Harris’ nomination disseminated in the United States are mostly about America's political, racial, and gender nuances, which are far too complicated and foreign to be of concern to the majority of audiences in Taiwan and China, at least for the time being. 

On the contrary, assassinations and scandals have been universally the favorite subjects of conspiracy theorists and those who enjoy consuming conspiracy theories. Furthermore, the Trump assassination was dramatic in the heated US presidential race. The global fascination with political drama and surprising plots such as Trump’s assassination thus became powerful drives, fueling the transnational flow of disinformation.

Note 1: Later on, the PTT user who shared the misleading information from the New York Post—claiming the shooter was Chinese—made the correction.

Wei-Ping Li is a research fellow at the Taiwan FactCheck Center.

Claire Chen (Managing Editor at the Taiwan FactCheck Center) and Mary Ma (a fact-checker at the Taiwan FactCheck Center) contributed to this analysis.