Top democrat advisor encouraged journalists to dig into baseless theory that Trump assassination attempt was ‘staged’

Dmitri Mehlhorn, a senior political advisor to Democratic mega-donor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, circulated an email to sympathetic journalists proposing the idea. According to a report by Semafor, Mehlhorn wrote in the email that the shooting might have been orchestrated to generate more favorability for Trump.

Mehlhorn wrote that one “possibility -- which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally—is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash." Then he claimed, as Trump would say, that it was another "Russia, Russia, Russa."

"This is a classic Russian tactic," Mehlhorn said, "such as when Putin killed 300 civilians in 1999 and blamed it on terrorists to ride the backlash to winning power. Others who have embraced this tactic of committing raw evil and then benefitting from the backlash include Hamas on October 7. If any Trump officials encouraged or knew of this attack, that is morally horrific, and Republicans of decency must demand that Trump step down as unfit.”

Mehlhron then stated that the other theory was, “that some crazy anti-Trumper in this chaotic moment decided to assassinate the former President.” However, the democratic political advisor’s email which was sent on Saturday night, continued to defend the theory that the assassination attempt was staged.

“I know I am prone to bias on this, but this is a classic Putin play and given the facts seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the staging. Look at how ready Trump is to rally; this pampered baby sh*t his pants when an eagle lunged at his food. Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others, but showed few of those lifelong instincts in this moment. And consider how often Putin and his allies run this play,” Mehlhorn continued.

Mehlhorn urged journalists to explore this angle further, saying, “I know it feels yucky to discuss such a possibility. But in this case, the odds are so high, and the stakes so consequential, we must as[k] the question.”

“Ask the question, people. If it proves wrong, we should respond appropriately to a non-staged act of political violence, as outlined above. But your credibility and our entire system of truth and justice depends on being certain of the answer,” he continued.

This revelation comes as numerous left-wing accounts on social media immediately pushed the baseless theory that the assassination attempt on Trump was a ploy designed to increase his public perception. While the motive of the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, is unclear at this time, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a staged attack on behalf of Trump's campaign.