Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally Saturday will probably fundamentally change the messaging and direction of the presidential campaign and enhance Trump’s standing, at least in the near term.
As we prepare for the Republican National Convention, which opens here in Milwaukee on Monday, here are several possible effects of the shooting:
The image: Trump’s instinct to raise his clenched fist, with blood streaking across his face, and to repeatedly shout the word “fight” from the stage, just seconds after he was injured, was gold for his campaign. It created an indelible image and captured the essence of Trump’s MAGA movement: under attack but defiant, bloody but unbowed.
As a person who spent the first part of my career as a graphic designer and art director, I immediately saw the visual power and nearly infinite graphic possibilities of this image. The raised, clinched fist has a long history in propagandistic imagery as a symbol of resistance and revolution in Western popular culture, dating back at least to the French Revolution of 1848 as depicted in Honoré Daumier’s circa 1860 painting, The Uprising.
Victimization: Trump has spent much of his time in presidential politics concocting a narrative of victimization, insisting that he and his movement were under attack and needed to fight back to save “our country.” He, and his supporters who were killed and injured, can now portray themselves as legitimate victims.
Neutralizing criticism: Becoming victims makes it easier for members of the right to neutralize discussion about the violence of Jan. 6 for the remainder of the campaign. Even the issue of gun control will likely not resonate. Rather than seeing this as evidence that we should restrict gun access, Republicans will try to justify owning more guns to defend themselves from political violence.
The legend: Years ago, Trump had already become a folk hero among his supporters for fighting the establishment. Another common feature among many folk heroes is that they evade or survive capture, punishment or death. By surviving this attempt on his life, Trump’s legend only grows among his faithful.