July 13, 2024
Almost immediately after shots rang out at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former President flinched onstage, grabbed his face, and dropped to the ground. In the chaotic moments that followed, Trump was helped to his feet by Secret Service agents and provided definitive proof of life: he raised his right fist toward the sky and mouthed to the crowd, “Fight.”
In the news photo that circulated shortly after, taken by Evan Vucci of the Associated Press, Trump stands against a clear blue sky with four Secret Service agents clutching at him, one of whom stares directly at the camera, his eyes shielded by black sunglasses. An American flag appears to float over the scene. Trump’s lips are pursed, his eyes narrowed, and his chin slightly raised. There are streaks of blood atop his right ear and on his cheek. He looks out far beyond what the camera can capture—at the public, at the future—and he is defiant. Whoever tried to kill him failed. It is already the indelible image of our era of political crisis and conflict.
Other images, screenshots, and fragments of information rushed onto social media and filled out the story. In one, a Secret Service agent kneeling on the grass turns his body and extends a finger, presumably to identify the shooter, who had reportedly taken up a position on a rooftop outside the rally. In another, taken just after Trump fell to the stage, the former President’s head is framed, a few inches off the ground with blood dribbling down his cheek, between someone’s legs. In a third, taken seconds after Trump rose to his feet, he is being held by several Secret Service agents who have surrounded him; one has both hands over Trump’s head to protect him, almost as if in prayer.
Each of these photographs freezes the moment, draining it of the chaos that is apparent in the live streams. They also add a sense of foreboding; the figures in these images, and anyone who views them, are all waiting, with trepidation, for what comes next. The Trump campaign soon released a statement that said, “He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility.” Everyone should agree that this is good news. What happened is horrifying. That flag, hanging at an odd angle, almost upside down, offers a sense of the eeriness of this moment and the general dread.
In an image taken just after Trump fell to the stage, his head is framed between someone’s legs, with blood dribbling down his cheek.Photograph by Anna Moneymaker / Getty
But what makes the image is Trump. In its surface details, it carries echoes of the marines at Iwo Jima. In the former President’s bloody defiance, it even evokes Rocky Balboa. On that stage, Trump seemed acutely aware of the image he was creating. It is an image that captures him as he would like to be seen so perfectly that it may outlast all the rest.