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Molly Butler / Media Maters

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Far-right figures help spread baseless Josh Shapiro-Trump assassination conspiracy theory

Social media posts about the conspiracy theory have earned tens of thousands of reposts and hundreds of thousands of views

Written by Alex Kaplan

Research contributions from Abbie Richards, Payton Armstrong & Reed McMaster

Published

Social media users and far-right figures online have spread a baseless conspiracy theory from a supposed whistleblower claiming that Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was involved in the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July. 

Even though prosecutors previously dismissed the alleged whistleblower’s claims and have said her claims were not credible and “read more like a novel,” far-right figures have claimed the conspiracy theory is “probably a pretty good theory,” a “credible accusation,” and meant Shapiro was “going to prison.”

The conspiracy theory has also earned tens of thousands of reposts and hundreds of thousands of views on social media, according to a Media Matters review.

  • Supposed whistleblower files baseless complaint alleging PA Gov. Josh Shapiro was involved with the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt on Trump

    • The complaint, reportedly filed on February 7, “details unfounded assertions that Shapiro conspired with other officials to orchestrate the attack as part of a political scheme” and mirrors a similar complaint the supposed whistleblower filed in July. As the Daily Dot notes, the complaint to the Butler County district attorney from the supposed whistleblower, Hadassah Feinberg, “alleged that Shapiro ‘facilitated, organized and carried out his plan’ to assassinate Trump.” Last July, Feinberg “filed a similar complaint that the local district attorney tossed, citing the myriad investigations into the assassination attempt.” [Daily Dot, 2/10/25; Semafor, 2/11/25]

    • The Butler County, Pennsylvania, district attorney rejected the conspiracy theory in email statements to multiple outlets. In one statement, Richard Goldinger, the district attorney of Butler County, said, “I do not believe the Governor was at all involved in the assassination attempt. This is corroborated by the criminal investigations conducted by law enforcement.” He also wrote that “Governor Shapiro HAS NOT been charged with anything connected to the assassination attempt in Butler, PA last July,” adding that he did not find the alleged whistleblower’s original allegation “credible at all” and noting that it “read more like a novel than an actual affidavit of probable cause.” [Lead Stories, 2/10/25; Check Your Fact, 2/13/25]

    • Days after reportedly filing the new complaint, the supposed whistleblower told white nationalist Stew Peters that Shapiro was a “fake Jew” and part of a “Jewish mafia,” agreeing with Peters’ comment that there was a “Jewish plot” against Trump. During the interview, Peters said that Shapiro was “of the synagogue of Satan” and Feinberg said, “Yes.” Feinberg’s filed complaint pushed other conspiracy theories as well, alleging that Shapiro “‘laundered funds from Ukraine’ and that Trump’s election would expose this, providing Shapiro with the motive for the assassination,” and that then-President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Jewish billionaire philanthropist Alex Soros were also involved. She claimed that Soros had “made threats against Trump before the assassination attempt.” Soros was previously baselessly accused of threatening Trump when he posted an article from The Atlantic. [Rumble, The Stew Peters Show, 2/11/25; Daily Dot, 2/10/25; Media Matters, 1/23/24, 3/13/23]

  • Multiple far-right media figures have amplified the baseless conspiracy theory

    • Pastor Greg Locke posted that the allegation means “Shapiro is going to prison for a very long time.” Locke, a far-right pastor known for spreading conspiracy theories online and off, added that “the truth is coming out about the assassination attempt in Butler and you can rest assured Biden was involved.” [Twitter/X, 2/10/25; PBS, 7/11/24; NOTUS, 11/1/24; Media Matters, 2/8/22]

    • Infowars hosts said they were “investigating” this “credible accusation.” Infowars founder Alex Jones wrote of the allegations that he was “investigating this now.” Another Infowars host, Harrison Smith, said that it was a “credible accusation from the credible federal whistleblower.” [Twitter/X, 2/10/25; Infowars, American Journal, 2/10/25]

    • On social media, Peters claimed the allegation meant that “the plot to assassinate Trump was jewish.” He repeated the claim while interviewing the supposed whistleblower on his show. [Twitter/X, 2/10/25; Rumble, The Stew Peters Show, 2/11/25]

    • Self-described “prophet” Amanda Grace, who has interviewed Trump family members, said on her show that “it is beginning to pour out that allegedly” Shapiro “was involved in the assassination attempt against” Trump. [Rumble, Ark of Grace Ministries, 2/10/25; Media Matters, 5/30/24; PBS, 10/7/22]

    • Podcaster Zak Paine, who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory on his show RedPill78, claimed the allegation is “probably a pretty good theory.” Paine said that the allegation “definitely has teeth by reason of where it’s coming from” and that Shapiro “must be investigated.” [Rumble, RedPill78, 2/10/25, 2/10/25; The New York Times, 4/27/21; Media Matters, 12/31/21]

    • Podcaster Shawn Ryan, who has interviewed Trump and Vice President JD Vance, boosted the conspiracy theory and wrote, “Wow.” [Twitter/X, 2/10/25; Semafor, 2/11/25]

  • The conspiracy theory has earned hundreds of thousands of reposts and views combined on social media

    • Posts promoting the conspiracy theory earned tens of thousands of reposts on social media. A Media Matters review found multiple posts on social media that earned nearly 70,000 reposts combined and falsely claimed that Shapiro was “being charged with the attempted assassination of Trump,” dubiously suggested that “the Butler County DA's office is currently investigating these allegations,” claimed it was proof that “it was jEWS that tried to assassinate TRUMP,” and argued that if the “huge” allegations were “true, this will be one for the history books” and “death isn’t good enough” for Shapiro. [Twitter/X, 2/9/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25]

    • YouTube videos pushing the conspiracy theory have received more than 400,000 combined views. Media Matters’ review also found videos on YouTube with titles like “BREAKING: Federal Whistleblower IMPLICATES Gov. Josh Shapiro in Trump Assassination Attempt” and “Federal WHISTLEBLOWER CONFIRMS Josh Shapiro PLANNED Trump Assassination In BUTLER, PA.” One video claimed the allegation meant there was “collusion between Joe Biden, Governor Shapiro, state police commissioners to take the president out.” More than one of the videos appeared to be monetized with ads. [YouTube, 2/10/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25, 2/10/25]

    • TikTok videos pushing the conspiracy theory have received nearly half a million combined views. The videos claimed that the allegation was evidence that federal agencies were corrupt. [TikTok, 2/9/25, 2/9/25, 2/9/25, 2/9/25]

    • A user on the subreddit “r/conspiracy” also pushed the conspiracy theory, claiming, “While you were watching the Super Bowl, a whistleblower has allegedly came forward linking Josh Shapiro to the Trump assassination attempt.” The post received hundreds of “upvotes,” Reddit’s equivalent of likes. [Reddit, 2/10/25; Media Matters, 9/18/23]