Law enforcement officers stand guard after a shooting outside the Trump International Golf Course of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Marco Bello | Reuters
News of the apparent assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump has swept China’s heavily censored social media, sparking conspiracy theories and mockery of the U.S. political landscape.
The Republican nominee was not injured and a suspect was taken into custody after a shooting at Trump’s Florida golf course on Sunday that the FBI said “appeared to be an assassination attempt.”
As the news reached China on Monday, discussion of the incident became a trending topic on Weibo, China’s popular social media platform, with netizens pointing out how Trump recently escaped an assassination attempt at a July 13 campaign rally.
“Again?” Many netizens raised questions on the platform More than 500 million Monthly Users.
Millions of people viewed the trending hashtag “The gunman was 457 meters away from Trump,” sparking discussion about how Trump was lucky and had a “good destiny.”
Weibo soon became home to a host of conspiracy theories surrounding the authenticity of the incident and the motives of those involved, with users suggesting the action would benefit Trump in the polls. Other outlandish conspiracy theories proliferated on the platform, mentioning religious groups.
In addition to conspiracy theories, many netizens speculated that Trump would benefit from this incident.
Shen Yi, a professor of international politics at Fudan University, said on his verified Weibo account that the story was “definitely not good news for the Democratic Party. The potential benefits that Harris could gain in the presidential debate will be zeroed out.”
Shooting suspect Ryan Wesley Routh is in Secret Service custody, three senior law enforcement officials told NBC News. Details about Routh and his motives are still emerging.
Many Weibo posts viewed the incident as an example of instability in the U.S. political system dominated by “terrorism and violence.”
“American democracy? There’s no such thing as democracy in a country where the president was assassinated,” and “surely assassinating dissidents is just a common tactic,” one blogger with 1 million followers posted Zhong said.
Shortly after the incident, Trump said in a fundraising email that he was safe and in good spirits.
“There are gunshots going off near me, but before the rumors start getting out of hand, I want you to hear this: I am safe and everything is fine! Nothing can slow me down. I will never surrender!” the email read.
—CNBC’s Zenith Wong and Anniek Bao contributed to this article.
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