In his annual papal address, Pope Francis accused 'fake news' of being responsible for the Trump assassination attempt.

Last year, the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump were caused by "fake news," as Pope Francis recently stated.

The Catholic News Agency reported on the pope's annual "state of the world" address, where he highlighted "fake news" as the source of the division and distrust in society that led to Trump's near-death experiences in 2024.

The phenomenon generates false images of reality, fostering a climate of suspicion and hate, which undermines people's sense of security and stability, leading to tragic consequences such as the attacks on the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic and the president-elect of the United States of America.

In July 2016, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump escaped death when an AR-15 rifle fired by Thomas Crooks narrowly missed his skull by less than an inch. The bullet hit Trump in the ear, while other rounds entered the crowd behind him, injuring two people and killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore.

In Florida, two months after the first assassination attempt, Trump escaped another attempt by the suspect Ryan Routh, who was stopped by the U.S. Secret Service before he could shoot Trump while he was golfing at his course in Palm Beach County. Authorities later caught and arrested the would-be assassin after he abandoned his AK-47 and fled in a vehicle.

In May, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was critically wounded when he was shot by a would-be assassin while greeting some of his supporters in his country. The suspect was later arrested.

Misinformation and media bias are contributing to the polarization of societies, resulting in assassination attempts, as Francis stated during his address.

Francis stated that societies are becoming more divided, with a growing sense of fear and mistrust towards others and the future, which is intensified by the constant production and dissemination of "fake news," a term popularized by Trump during his political campaign.

The Pope stated that fake news not only distorts facts but also perceptions.

The shootings against Trump were motivated by false rhetoric from the left, he claimed after the attempts on his life.

Trump stated to Planet Chronicle Digital in September that the second would-be assassin was influenced by Biden and Harris's rhetoric and acted on it. Trump claimed that their words were causing him to be targeted, despite him being the one who would save the country. He accused them of destroying the country from within and out.

In his speech, Francis, who proclaimed 2025 as a "Jubilee" year with the theme of hope, urged mankind to bridge the gaps in society that have resulted in these assassination attempts.

He expressed that his prayerful hope for the new year is for the jubilee to serve as an opportunity for everyone, regardless of their religious beliefs, to reevaluate the connections that unite us as humans and as political entities.