Billionaire Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman’s advisor was behind the media narrative suggesting that the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was staged.
A little over an hour after would-be assassin Thomas Crooks opened fire Hoffman’s top advisor and former Progressive Policy Institute senior fellow, Dmitri Mehlhorn, suggested to mainstream media reporters in an email obtained by Semafor that the shooting was “staged” in a “classic” Putin-style arranged incident to garner public sympathy and, consequently, votes.
“[There is a] possibility – which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally — is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash. This is a classic Russian tactic, such as when Putin killed 300 civilians in 1999 and blamed it on terrorists to ride the backlash to winning power. Others who have embraced this tactic of committing raw evil and then benefitting from the backlash include Hamas on October 7. If any Trump officials encouraged or knew of this attack, that is morally horrific, and Republicans of decency must demand that Trump step down as unfit.”
One man, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, died due to gunshot wounds sustained while shielding his wife and two daughters during the attempted assassination. Comperatore was a Christian and retired fire chief, described by family members in social media posts and in interviews as their “hero” in life and in his final moments protecting them.
“He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him thank you,” wrote Comperatore’s daughter, Allyson, in a social media post.
Two other men shot but in stable condition were both Pennsylvania residents: David Dutch (57) and James Copenhaver (74). Dutch, a member of the Pennsylvania branch of the Marine Corps League, suffered broken ribs and liver damage requiring multiple operations. Copenhaver is a registered Democrat and member of his area’s Military Banner Committee.
Another injured was the nephew of Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson: a bullet grazed and cut his neck, but he is stable.
My nephew was injured at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thankfully his injury was not serious and he is doing well. My family was sitting in the front, near where the President was speaking. They heard shots ringing out — my nephew then realized he had blood on his neck…
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) July 14, 2024
After Mehlhorn’s spin attempt was found out and published by news outlets, he issued an apology disavowing the assassination attempt on Trump.
First and everything: There is no place for political violence in our society. Assassination is not only categorically wrong, but is also the assassination of democracy. It is abhorrent that anyone has tried to assassinate President Trump. Everyone, on all sides of this…
— Reid Hoffman (@reidhoffman) July 14, 2024
This wouldn’t be Mehlhorn’s first attempt to feed disinformation to the media to undermine Republicans.
Back in 2017, the investment fund Mehlhorn co-founded with Hoffman, Investing in US, launched a fake news campaign to ensure defeat of Alabama’s Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. The campaign, “Project Birmingham,” spent at least $100,000 — if not more out of the $50 million for the entire election campaign — to have operators masquerading as conservatives create Facebook pages urging Republicans to vote write-in candidates instead of Moore.
Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, would narrowly win the election in which Mehlhorn’s affiliates meddled. Other top operatives at the helm of the disinformation campaign were former agents of the Obama administration.
After their scheme was found out, news outlets compared the activities of Mehlhorn’s fund as akin to Russian manipulation tactics.
