Politics

Far-right communities online lit up on Saturday night with calls for violence, retribution, and civil war in the wake of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.

“I guess they really do want war,” a member of the pro-Trump message board known as The Donald wrote on Saturday evening in a post that has since been deleted.

Many other members of the message board, which played a significant role in coordinating activities leading up to the Capitol riot on January 6, agreed in responses to the post.

In the minutes and hours after a 20-year-old repeatedly shot at former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, social media platforms, message boards, and encrypted chat groups lit up with conspiracies about the shooting.

From wild claims that the incident was a “deep state plot” devised by President Joe Biden to allegations that the entire incident was staged to boost Trump’s chances of winning the election, the conspiracies came from all sides of the political divide. They were driven not only by online conspiracists and random accounts online, but also by elected lawmakers.

Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for reelection Saturday evening shortly after gunshots appear to have been fired at the former president’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was escorted off the stage by the Secret Service and seen with blood on his face afterwards.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X Saturday.

A few minutes later, Musk posted, “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.” The X, formerly Twitter, owner also shared a photograph of Trump raising his fist with blood on his face, as Secret Service agents surrounded him.

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After President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate, speculations that Vice President Kamala Harris may fill the void are everywhere. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, how the far right is already pushing racist and misogynistic conspiracies that question Harris’ ability to be president. Plus, why RFK Jr. is looking to capitalize on the moment.

The presidential debate on June 27 between President Joe Biden and former president and convicted felon Donald Trump was widely panned as a shit show. Trump lied about issues like abortion, taxes, and the Capitol riot on January 6, while Biden struggled to respond to questions and appeared lost or confused.

In the days since, Biden has been fighting for his legacy and his candidacy: Post-debate polls have not been favorable to the president. An AARP poll released earlier this week in the swing state of Wisconsin showed Biden lagging behind Trump by six percentage points, with 9 percent of respondents preferring Kennedy. A poll from the Cook Political Report found that Trump now leads Biden 47 percent to 44 percent percent in the “the most drastic shift in the race all year.” Pundits and some Democrats have called for Biden to leave the race.

The supposed Silicon Valley revolt happened even before the disastrous presidential debate. “The Blue Wall of tech is crumbling before our very eyes,” Ryan Selkis, the founder and CEO of Messari crypto, wrote on X last month. He was referencing a then-upcoming event: Just days after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 criminal counts in a hush-money case, organizers of a San Francisco reception for the former president announced that it had sold out, with attendees paying $50,000 and up.

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Hey, everyone! It’s Makena. I’m back after a charming getaway to the Adirondacks. A lot has happened since I’ve been gone. Namely, what the heck is happening with Joe Biden and the Democratic nomination?

Luckily, I spoke with Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn cofounder and Democratic mega-donor about Biden and whether Silicon Valley politics are swaying right.

In the space of 24 hours, a piece of Russian disinformation about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife buying a Bugatti car with American aid money traveled at warp speed across the internet. Though it originated from an unknown French website, it quickly became a trending topic on X and the top result on Google.

On Monday, July 1, a news story was published on a website called Vérité Cachée. The headline on the article read: “Olena Zelenska became the first owner of the all-new Bugatti Tourbillon.” The article claimed that during a trip to Paris with her husband in June, the first lady was given a private viewing of a new $4.8 million supercar from Bugatti and immediately placed an order. It also included a video of a man that claimed to work at the dealership.

Far-right communities online are already demonizing Vice President Kamala Harris after speculation that she may replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the US election.

But rather than focusing on her policies, experience, or ability to do the job, the vicious attacks have focused instead on her sex life, her race, and rethreading old conspiracies about her eligibility to be president.

These attacks have been spurred on by former President Donald Trump. “He just quit, you know—he’s quitting the race,” Trump said of Biden, in a video first reported by the Daily Beast last week and subsequently posted by Trump to his Truth Social account. “That means we have Kamala,” Trump adds. “She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic. She’s so fucking bad.”

The UK’s new government already has big plans. In the first few weeks after the election, it will signal to the world that Britain is “back” as a leading global player and rekindle ties with old friends in Europe.

Yet Britain’s calling card, when it comes to tech industry credentials, is not as sparkling as it once was. Its big bet on tech, allegedly a priority for the Conservative party following Brexit, has yet to manifest into a new golden age for the industry.