Six in ten voters think it’s likely that negative news media coverage of President Donald Trump inspired the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, a new national Rasmussen survey finds.
Of U.S. likely voters polled April 27-29 following the attack, 60% think it’s at least “somewhat likely” that hostile media inspired the armed shooter’s attack – including 41% who call it “very likely.” In contrast, just 13% consider it “not at all likely.”
“How likely is it that negative news media coverage of Trump inspired this assassination attempt?”
- Very Likely: 41%
- Somewhat Likely: 19%
- Not Very Likely: 16%
- Not at All Likely: 13%
- Not Sure: 11%
Fully 55% of Democrat voters say it’s likely that hostile media inspired the attack, with far more saying it’s “very likely” (28%) than calling it “somewhat” (17%) so.
More than three-fourths (79%) of Republican voters say media instigated the assassination attempt, including 58% who think it’s very likely media are to blame. Meanwhile, 59% of “other” voters attribute the attack to the influence of the media.
Hispanics are the most likely to say that the assassination attempt was inspired by negative media coverage of Trump, as 76% say it’s at least somewhat likely – and more than half (52%) think it’s “very likely.” Six in ten of both Whites and Blacks consider it at least somewhat likely.
Two days after the April 25 assassination attempt, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt chastised media for their years of violence-inspiring anti-Trump rhetoric, as NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck reported:
“As an example, she cited comments Thursday from ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel claiming to joke First Lady Melania Trump has the ‘glow of an expectant widow’ as the ‘kind of...completely deranged’ rhetoric that Americans ‘are consuming...night after night after night.’
“‘The deranged lies and smears against the President, his family, his supporters have led crazy people to believe crazy things, and they are inspired to commit violence because of those words. It has to stop,’ she continued before ending her opening remarks with a call to action for Congress to end its shutdown of Homeland Security, leaving key government workers without pay.”
.@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “President Trump is fearless because he loves this country, and he is willing to put his own life on the line to deliver on the promises that he made to the American public, who elected him here into the highest office in the land. And while we are… pic.twitter.com/6yUz2kaDEm
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 27, 2026
There’s even more consensus among voters when it comes to the divisive effect today’s media are having on the nation.
More than seven in ten voters (73%) say “the way most news media report about politics” is dividing Americans, including 71% of Democrats and 75% of both Republican and “other” voters. Just 11% of all voters think media are making the country more united.
What’s more, 71% of voters say “the problem of political violence in America” is getting worse, not better (8%). Another 17% say things are “about the same,” in terms of political violence. By party, 78% of Democrats, 68% of Republicans and 67% of unaffiliated voters believe the political violence in America is becoming more of a problem.
