By: Anna Aleksandra Sichova
September 19 2024
Fake CNN headline claims Trump survived 'mostly peaceful' assassination attempt
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Image circulating online featuring fake CNN headline (Source: X/ Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict Fake
The headline "Trump survives mostly peaceful assassination attempt" has been falsely attributed to CNN.
The context
On September 15, at his West Palm Beach golf club, former U.S. President Donald Trump was the target of "what appears to be an attempted assassination," according to the FBI. Trump was not harmed in the incident, and a suspect is currently in custody. This occurred after a similar attempt on his life in July, which had sparked widespread misinformation.
Logically Facts reported on how the July assassination attempt fueled conspiracy theories across various ideological groups while debunking several false claims.
Shortly after the September 15 incident, a user on X (formerly Twitter) shared an image (archived here) of Trump alongside a supposed CNN headline that read, "Breaking news: Trump survives mostly peaceful assassination attempt," which garnered nearly 20,000 views.
However, this headline is fake and was never published by CNN.
What we found
Rather than being a new claim, we found that a similar image was circulated (example archived here) following the first assassination attempt on Trump, which took place on July 13 during a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
After the incident on September 15, the same headline with a different photo of the former U.S. President reemerged on X (archived here).
However, CNN never published this headline in any form — neither as an article nor in live coverage. A reverse image search failed to find any legitimate CNN article with the alleged headline.
Additionally, we reviewed the network's breaking news coverage from the day of the July 13 assassination attempt and found no such headline.
When contacted, CNN Senior Director of Communications Bridget Leininger confirmed to Logically Facts that the image that resurfaced following the September 15 incident was "completely fabricated."
The verdict
The claim that CNN published a headline stating "Trump survives mostly peaceful assassination attempt" is false.
Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.