Probably, the 'jumbotron' saved Donald Trump's life. The 'jumbotron' is a large television screen located at a great distance - sometimes tens of meters - from the speaker at a rally, allowing them to speak as if they were improvising. Trump usually prefers the 'jumbotron' to the video screens located on both sides of the platform. According to Trump's advisor Dan Scavino, this screen caused Trump to move his head more than usual, marking the two-centimeter difference between a non-consequential wound and almost certain death.
However, for Donald Trump, the explanation is different. "God was the only one who prevented the unthinkable from happening. WE WILL NOT FEAR, but will remain steadfast in our Faith and Defiant against EVIL," was the message from the Republican candidate on his social network Truth Social.
The messianism of Trump's post is supported by that of his followers. References on social media abound on how divine intervention directly saved him. Trump, who has strengthened the Republican Party's dominance among American religious voters, has frequently been compared by evangelicals to characters from the Old Testament such as King David - a person with enormous moral flaws, especially regarding sex and fidelity, but who carried out the work of Yahweh - or Cyrus of Persia, who, although not part of the chosen people of Israel, freed them from slavery.
However, many of Donald Trump's followers have made a leap from religion to conspiracy. Their message is that the Joe Biden administration - or even the president himself - ordered the assassination attempt. In truth, that would be completely legal, given the novel doctrine of the Supreme Court to absolve Donald Trump of political responsibility, under which Biden could have ordered the assassination of his rival as part of an official act and entrusted it to the relevant law enforcement agency. For example, it is doubtful that the Armed Forces could carry it out, as they are almost entirely prohibited from deploying on U.S. soil, but security forces, such as the FBI, could.
Thus, Republican representative from Georgia Mike Collins wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "Joe Biden ordered this," and demanded that the district attorney formally charge Biden with incitement to murder. Similar accusations were made by other Republican senators and representatives, especially those who have more hopes of being named Trump's vice presidential candidates this week. Of these, only Marco Rubio - the establishment's vice presidential candidate - did not make inflammatory statements.
The fact that there was also a failure of the security forces in the attack has further fueled speculation. Rumors have escalated with the testimony of a witness who told the BBC how he and a group of people tried to alert the police and the Secret Service - responsible for protecting national and foreign leaders and diplomats in the U.S. - for several minutes that there was a person in camouflage gear with a semi-automatic rifle positioned on the roof of a glass factory aiming at the president.
In addition, Matthew Thomas Crook was killed by a sniper immediately after shooting. This has created a parallel between him and Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of John F. Kennedy, who was killed two days after his arrest by Jack Ruby. The fact that a person in the audience sitting behind Trump was holding a sign that said "Rby Cute" ("Ruby is cute") has sparked more speculation, especially considering that followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, who claim that Trump is fighting against a network of cannibalistic pedophiles controlling the world, see the former president as a direct heir to the slain president or his son, John Kennedy, who died in a plane crash in 1999.
According to some Trump supporters, Kennedy 'junior' is alive, and secretly working with Trump to dismantle that network. In the footage of the assassination attempt, a person who could be Vincent Fusca, an eccentric character some attribute to actually being Kennedy's son in disguise, can be seen. With all this, the groundwork for conspiracy is laid. Now all that's left is for Oliver Stone to make a movie or, at least, a documentary.