Trump shooting inflamed an already divided nation. Can America turn down the heat?

Can America turn down the temperature?

Within moments of the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, the finger-pointing began.

Top Republicans blamed President Joe Biden, the Secret Service and the media, arguing that painting Trump as a threat to democracy invited violence. Biden supporters blamed Trump’s own extreme rhetoric and spread conspiracy theories that the assassination attempt was a "false flag" event.

The wave of online fury and false claims quickly gained traction, especially on the hyper-partisan fringes of social media.

Telegram channels for branches of the Proud Boys militia group and discussions on the pro-Trump platform Patriots.win called for civil war and violence, according to an analysis from public interest research organization Advance Democracy provided to USA TODAY.

Some moderating voices sought to limit explicit calls for further violence, said Emerson Brooking, a director of strategy and resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab and co-author of "LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media."

But on far-fringe platforms like 4chan, agitation for violence was “intense and immediate,” Brooking told USA TODAY.

“The conspiratorialism – especially allegations of a Biden plot – was not just limited to fringe elements, it was embraced and broadcast immediately by elected officials and other credible followings with huge social media profiles,” he said.

The political left unleashed its own vitriol, with Biden supporters pushing unsubstantiated claims and wild conspiracy theories.

On X, formerly Twitter, claims that the shooting at the Trump rally was "staged" quickly spiked. Other posts made false claims, such as the blood on Trump's ear was from a gel pack.

Terms like "Antifa", "fight," "staged" and "Secret Service" generated hundreds of millions of views within hours, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab found.

Within the first 17 hours following the assassination attempt, conspiracy theories jumped from roughly 4% to 12% of all social media mentions of the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a firm that tracks online narratives.

Pressure grew Sunday to unite the country ahead of an election that has turned America into a powder keg.

Trump called on Americans to “stand United, and show our True Character as Americans.” Former first lady Melania Trump implored Americans to “look beyond the left and the right, the red and the blue.” Biden urged "nationwide unity."

“Obviously, we can’t go on like this as a society,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on NBC. “We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country. And we need leaders of all parties on both sides to call that out.”

But the day after the assassination attempt, the temperature was still running hot, especially in Trump’s immediate circle. If “the Democrats got their way, my dad would be dead right now. Don't let them memory hole it,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X.

While fiery statements seemed to get the most attention, they were not the most resonant on social media, according to one firm's analysis.

The most prevalent sentiments immediately following the assassination attempt were expressions of support for Trump or calls for unity, accounting for 17% of all social media posts, PeakMetrics found.

The election already shattered norms. Then the Trump rally shooting happened.

A much smaller portion of social media posts – about 5% – blamed the rhetoric of Democrats for instigating the attempt, but that narrative did not gain significant traction and spread primarily among accounts with fewer followers.

Conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt accounted for nearly 4% of posts.

PeakMetrics conducted the analysis based on a random sampling of thousands of posts on X and Telegram.

The reaction to law enforcement and the Secret Service was mixed. Nearly 4% of posts thanked law enforcement and about 3% criticized the Secret Service for failing to prevent the attempt.

Democratic efforts to condemn the violence did not resonate widely and comprised less than 2% of posts. Even less resonant were posts attempting to link the assassination attempt to the gun control debate in the election. They accounted for less than 1% of the posts.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump shooting inflames social media. Can America turn down heat?