The CIA denied an ominous internet conspiracy theory involving the shooting of former President Donald Trump via a public statement Monday.
The former president was shot through the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The conspiracy theory in question, which has mainly popped up on obscure internet spaces and social media accounts, posits that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the now-deceased would-be-assassin who shot Trump, may have been a CIA asset.
According to Gizmodo, it was revealed the CIA had been developing a “mind-manipulation program” aimed at creating brain-washed, mind-controlled assets.
The program, called MKUltra, was unsuccessful.
A Freedom of Information Act request to the CIA claims that MKUltra was an “official U.S. government program” that spanned the ’50s and ’60s.
The document says the project “supposedly used United States citizens as unwitting test subjects” and that the project “involved the surreptitious use of many types of drugs, as well as other methods, to manipulate individual mental states and to alter brain function.”
It’s the stuff of fictitious spy novels.
Nevertheless, some social media users went as far as to claim Crooks had been trained and controlled by the CIA via the MKUltra program.
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Speaking with Wired, the CIA refuted the conspiracy theory.
“These claims are utterly false, absurd, and damaging,” a CIA spokesperson said Thursday.
“The CIA had no relationship whatsoever with Thomas Crooks.”
“Regarding MKULTRA, the CIA’s program was shut down more than 40 years ago, and declassified information about the program is publicly available on CIA.gov.”
Gizmodo went on to use the conspiracy theory to attack Trump supporters, noting that “It’s really their entire brand” to support theories such as QAnon.
The outlet then added, “Trump supporters may be some of the dumbest people on the planet.”
In reality, few supporters of former President Trump actually believe or support theories like QAnon.
A 2021 poll (conducted much closer to the height of the QAnon theory) found that only 4 percent of Trump voters held a “favorable” view of the movement.
In addition, 31.4 percent found the movement “unfavorable,” 43.3 percent said they had “never heard” of QAnon, and 21.3 percent were undecided.
Nevertheless, left-wing establishment media outlets have repeatedly thrust the theory into the center of the national spotlight.
And now, it appears that a similarly unpopular theory at the fringes of social media, the MKUltra theory, is being thrust into that spotlight as well by outlets such as Wired and Gizmodo.
And, as is demonstrated in Gizmodo’s article, at least one media outlet has attempted to tie this conspiracy to Trump.
