Donald Trump Stokes 'Inside Job' Conspiracy Theory Of Assassination Attempt

Donald Trump ran with a podcast host’s unfounded speculation of an “inside job” behind the attempt on his life recently, saying, “You do have to wonder.” (Check out the clip below.)

Former Fox News personality Monica Crowley , who worked for the Treasury Department during Trump’s administration, stoked the conspiracy chatter by accusing officials of “slow-walking” the investigation. “Does it look increasingly to you like this was a suspicious, maybe even inside job?” she asked the Republican nominee.

Trump suggested without proof that Democrats are paying for the legal fees of the father of the dead gunman Thomas Crooks.

While the FBI unlocked Crooks’ phone fairly easily after his July 13 assassination attempt, Trump claimed the FBI couldn’t open the apps and that was “suspicious.” That piled on to conservatives’ dubious speculation about Crooks’ contacts before July 13.

Trump also said FBI Director Christopher Wray’s early disclosure that the agency wasn’t sure if Trump had been hit by shrapnel or a bullet was perhaps a sign of something afoot. (The FBI later confirmed it was a bullet .)

“There’s so many things going on here, that you do have to wonder,” Trump said. “I wasn’t thinking this way three weeks ago, but the more you see it, the more you start to say there could be something else and that’s really dangerous for the country.”

The former president compared his case to former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, which has spawned conspiracy theories for decades. Trump said he’ll open up an investigation in his first week back in the White House if he wins the election. “It’s harder to get the facts as time goes by,” he said.

Crowley claimed the “imperial media” and “regime” have “buried” the story, which “lends credence to this idea that this is very suspicious and could have been an inside job. ”

“They don’t wanna talk about it,” Trump replied. “They didn’t want to talk about the election of 2020 either.”

Crooks was shot and killed after he fired at Trump during a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, grazing the former president’s ear. The FBI said last week it had found no specific motive for Crooks’ act, deeming the campaign event a “ target of opportunity ” for the killer.