Updates:
Might be best for mods to lock this post at this point (is that a thing on Lemmy?) because this story is basically wrapped. The FBI says a bullet caused some ear damage. Maybe it was bullet shrapnel from a ricochet or something like that, but later photos show the teleprompters in-tact so it wasn't shards of glass from those. Trump's usage of the bandage (and the assassination attempt) as symbols and political tools has been discussed at length and I don't think conspiratorial thinking beyond that is very productive. Pete Souza took his own account down after getting a lot of harassment, so no further conspiracies are needed regarding X-formerly-known-as-Twitter at this time.
A photo of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump taken on Saturday without his ear bandage has sparked a wave of speculation.
The image, taken by Alex Brandon of the Associated Press on July 27 and shared by photojournalist Pete Souza on X, formerly Twitter, shows Trump walking up an airplane staircase with an apparently fully healed ear wound just weeks after he was shot with a high-powered rifle.
Souza, known for his tenure as the chief official White House photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, posted Brandon's photo on his now-deactivated X account on Saturday, writing, "AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was 'hit' by a bullet from an AR-15 assault rifle."
Souza's profile, @PeteSouza, which had over 200,000 followers, now reads, "This account doesn't exist, try searching for another," implying that he has deleted or deactivated it. If he had been banned, it would read, "Account suspended. X suspends accounts which violate the X rules."
I genuinely, since the day it happened, have not believed that Trump was shot.
I watched over and over again and I swear what I saw was WWE theatre.
I would have believed an attempt on his life, from someone anywhere on the Political spectrum (I even said this before info about the shooter came out).
However, I don’t believe Trump. He has had a white mark on his ear for years. The “scab” that he’s playing off as a wound has been there for years.
He is the liar/the first beast!
Two people died. It's asinine to ignore that and let your desire to distrust trump metastasize into conspiracy theories.
It's conspiracy theories like the Obama birther movement that got us into this situation. So just zip it.
He was shot at, the bullet grazed his ear leaving very little substantial damage. We don't need leftwing misinformation any more than we need rightwing misinformation.
Let's be better than that, AND let's not bring that sort of vibe onto Lemmy. Because I guarantee you Russia and other foreign state actors are looking to promote misinformation this election season as they do any other. Lemmy don't need that stuff.
Your tone is so ignorant, like there is no way you are wrong.
Did it not occur to people it was both, he was infact shot at, but it was shrapnel that hit him.
Either way, you are not correct and your attitude is shit. Get off your high horse.