'Trump Is Dead' goes viral: Vance's 'terrible tragedy' remark, Simpsons ‘prediction’ fuel baseless rumors

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has been trending for all sorts of reasons over the past couple of days, even for bizarre and baseless rumors about his death.

On August 30, “Trump is Dead” shot up the trending charts, with other terms like “Trump Died” and “Donald Trump death” tagging along.

Unverified viral snaps of ambulances rolling up near the White House started circulating, feeding the frenzy. However, none of it was true.

Turns out, the rumor might have roots in comments from his VP, JD Vance, and maybe a dark joke courtesy of 'The Simpsons’ mastermind Matt Groening.

JD Vance’s 'terrible tragedy' response fuels Trump death rumors

The timing wasn’t random. Just days earlier, on August 27, Vice President Vance sat down with USA Today and was asked if he was ready to take over if a “terrible tragedy” hit.

Vance didn’t hesitate to gush about Trump’s stamina. “He’s the last person making phone calls at night, and he’s the first person who wakes up and the first person making phone calls in the morning,” Vance said.

“Yes, terrible tragedies happen. But I feel very confident the president of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people. And if, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days," he added.

That “terrible tragedy” phrasing was enough to light a fire on social media. Add to that Trump’s health rumors, and the hashtag practically wrote itself.

Trump's health scares and assassination attempts

On paper, Trump’s doctors say he’s solid. His April health report stamped him “fully fit” with good blood flow and strong physical and mental health.

At one point, the internet zoomed in on photos showing bruises on his hands and swelling around his ankles.

Doctors later diagnosed him with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a condition in which your veins don’t pump blood back to the heart properly. That leads to swelling, pain, and sometimes open wounds if things get nasty. It’s not rare either, as one in three American adults deals with it, especially older folks and women.

Of course, there's a constant fear for Trump's life among his supporters. The man has already survived two assassination attempts while campaigning for his White House comeback.

Enter the Simpsons with their Trump predictions

Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, was asked about the show’s future at San Diego Comic-Con in July. He responded with his signature dark humor.

“No, there’s no end in sight. We’re going to keep going. We’re going to go until somebody dies,” he said, as quoted by Variety.

Then he dropped a line that raised eyebrows. “When you-know-who dies, The Simpsons predicts that there will be dancing in the streets. Except President (JD) Vance will ban dancing," he said.

One thing the show is famous for is its eerie accuracy with Trump. They nailed his 2016 victory, played out a re-election storyline in 2024, and now fans can’t help but connect the dots with Groening’s “prediction.”

Not the first death rumor around Trump

Of course, this isn’t Trump’s first brush with death by hashtag.

In September 2023, his son Donald Trump Jr’s X account got hacked. The hacker gleefully posted a fake message claiming his dad had died and that Junior would be running for president.

The panic, however, didn’t last long. Trump himself hopped onto Truth Social to tell supporters he was very much alive.

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