Donald Trump’s ‘fist pump’ in viral assassination attempt photo explained by expert
The infamous photo of President Donald Trump being surrounded by Secret Service agents as he holds his fist in the air, blood running across his face, has been unpacked.
If you don’t know much about US history, four out of 45 US presidents have been assassinated in office.
From Abraham Lincoln, to James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy, being a president is a very dangerous gig.
Even though many more have manged to escape with their lives, US President Donald Trump, has had more than his fair share of threats before the actual attempt on his life.
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Last year, the 79-year-old was shot at during his 2024 election campaign during a rally in Pennsylvania.
On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired a round at Trump amid a Republican rally where the bullet grazed the businessman’s ear and killed another attendee.
A Secret Service report called it nothing 'short of a tragedy' and ‘operational failure’.
“One year ago, I was by President Trump’s side when a lone gunman attempted to assassinate him in Butler, Pennsylvania,” said Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
“My heart will always be with all those impacted on that day, especially Corey Comperatore, who lost his life while protecting those around him.
"Since President Trump appointed me as director of the United States Secret Service, I have kept my experience on July 13 top of mind, and the agency has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future."
As soon as Trump was off the ground and was being escorted away by his servicemen, he threw his fist up to the crowd, seemingly showing his strength at having just survived the attack.
“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” Trump told the New York Post afterwards. “They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.”
As for Erik Bucy, a professor of strategic communication, ‘Trump has an iconic image’.
He told Vox: “One for the ages, that is instantly recognizable. These only come around once in a while.”
Bucy explained: “It communicates resiliency in the face of crisis, and a certain kind of instinctual strength, but also an instinct about performance and maximizing the moment from a media point of view.”
Essentially, he determined that Trump was looking to make it a media moment for his campaign, which he says he doubts 'many politicians or public figures would have had that presence of mind’.
For the viewer, he admitted that they’re probably not seeing how Trump is allegedly framing the image, and instead are focused on the 'American symbolism’ of a president against a blue sky, ‘defiant’ after having been shot and ‘surrounded by dedicated guards and Secret Service members.’
Having looked at Trump’s fist pump image after his assassination attempt, Bucy says it was indeed a position of strength he was showing his fans, but also it was pandering to his political image.
Roger J. Kreuz, the Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis, wrote his analysis for The Conversation, which shares a similar sentiment.
He explained that the raised fist has meant many things over the course of history, such as Black power, a message of defiance, or even White power for Aryan groups.
For Trump, this has been something he has done for decades, which is supposedly to convey a message to his followers: whatever they believe it means.
Kreuz wrote: “Since public appearances by Trump typically draw mixed crowds of supporters and detractors, his use of a raised fist provides a potent message for both groups. It can function as a gesture of solidarity for those who are with him, and one of defiance against those who oppose him. In this way, Trump’s raised fist is like a Rorschach inkblot, since it allows people to interpret his message according to their own ideological preferences.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Britt Jones