A moment of horrific political violence at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday instantly turned into a symbol of Donald Trump, one that will likely catapult his presidential campaign.
Images of a defiant Trump have flooded social media and television — with his fist clenched over his head, his right ear bloodied, Secret Service agents surrounding him and an American flag waving in the background.
Extraordinary.
God bless President Trump. pic.twitter.com/GEipCSwl6G
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 13, 2024
His supporters, many of whom viewed him as a movement figure and martyr long before Saturday’s violence, seized on the images as a metaphor for the former president’s resilience.
Trump said the bullet grazed his right ear. According to the Butler County District Attorney, the shooter and another person have died.
Several vice presidential candidates and senators expressed their support and shared photos from the scene, while billionaire Elon Musk posted a message on Twitter that said: “I fully support President Trump and wish him a speedy recovery.”
David Urban, an informal adviser and lobbyist to Trump who helped run his 2016 campaign in Pennsylvania, said he hoped the shooting would unite the American people behind Trump.
“Donald Trump is a warrior,” Urban said. “That photo will be an iconic photo.”
Political Divisions
The shooting at the rally reflects the divisiveness and controversy of this recontestation of the 2020 presidential contest between Trump and President Joe Biden, as well as the spirit of political violence that has now permeated political discourse.
“I think we’re all shocked,” said Cooper Waldron, a 22-year-old registered Republican and Trump supporter from East Peoria, Illinois. “You never expect something like this to happen in an election in America.”
In a Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey conducted in May, half of swing state voters already said they feared violence during the election.
David McCormick, a Republican candidate for the Senate in Pennsylvania, was present at the rally and was near Trump when he was shot. According to a person familiar with the matter, two people sitting behind him at the rally were also shot, raising the possibility of violence not only in the presidential election campaign but also in the down ballot campaign.
Many Republican lawmakers blamed the shootings on Saturday on statements from their political rivals, deploying fiery rhetoric on social media and making baseless claims that Democrats incited the violence.
Leading Democrats, including President Biden, united behind Trump.
“I’m glad to hear that he is safe and doing well,” Biden said Saturday night. “There is no place in America for this kind of violence. We must stand together as a nation and condemn it.”
Numerous surveys have shown Trump holding a consistent lead over Biden in both national and swing state polling. Biden’s poor performance last month was seen by both parties as helping Trump’s bid.
Next week, Trump will announce his vice presidential nominee and deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
A large part of the Trump campaign, including top advisers, was in Milwaukee at the time of the shooting. It is unclear what effect the shooting will have on security in Milwaukee, where thousands of Republicans are gathering for their political convention, held once every four years.