Donald Trump, the martyr who makes history

[ Evan Vucci/Ap/SIPA ]

One year ago, in Nanterre, France, a 17-year-old teenager was killed by police during a traffic stop. A few hours later, a video capture would set the country ablaze for several days. Everyone was stunned to discover that an image could have unexpected power.
This weekend, the explosion took place on a global scale, as an image made history by potentially upsetting next autumn's presidential election. It appeared on the front page of numerous international newspapers. Donald Trump, his face bloodied, raises his fist and seems to proclaim “I'm alive, fight back!”.

It's July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Donald Trump is at the podium of an election campaign rally. Suddenly, there's a loud bang - someone has just fired a gun. The former president holds his ear and crouches behind his lectern. Secret Service agents intervene immediately to rescue and protect him. They are about to evacuate him when Trump tells them “Wait, wait!”. He gets to his feet and, in an incredible gesture, brandishes his right fist in the direction of his supporters, calling on them to fight: “Fight, fight”, he shouts repeatedly.

The stunned crowd, still in shock, shouted “USA, USA, USA...”. Trump is a “media beast” who understood perfectly, in a matter of seconds, that the moment was historic and that with his innate sense of stagecraft, he was going to build the image. 60 seconds passed between the shot and the raised fist. History was about to change, and it was Trump who had just written it, as he miraculously emerged alive from this assassination attempt.

It was during these few seconds of gunfire that Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci rushed to the desk and took the iconic photograph. “I saw the blood, but I didn't know if he was hurt. In those moments, you think about the work you have to do, so you're in work mode. I've taken thousands of photos of political rallies. It's all automatic. In circumstances like these, I always say to myself, “Slow down”, because you don't get a second chance. You have to be professional and go for it, and that's what I did.”

[ Superman Vol.1 (1939) - Une BD de Siegel, Jerry et Shuster, Joe chez DC Comics - 1939 ]

Methodically and with great experience, he puts in place, one by one, all the elements of a near-perfect image. The low-angle shot glorifying Trump, transforming him into a superhero worthy of Superman or Captain America. At the same time, it erases the context of the meeting. The scene is photographed against a neutral, plain blue background, against which Trump stands out. With his far-away gaze, he is already looking to the future of America; it's democracy that's under attack, and he positions himself as a bulwark rising above the rest. The colors are bold and limited to the colors of the flag. Blue suits, white shirts and red blood.

The traces of blood on the Republican leader's face evoke a martyr, a new messiah bearing the scars of his devotion. Finally, one of the four Secret Service agents looks up at us, his eyes shielded by black sunglasses. He invites us to participate in this staggering scene.

[ Image from Abraham Zapruder's home movie DR ]

And it's the whole of American visual mythology that suddenly resurfaces through this photograph, which has incredible communicative power. All the images of the American narrative are quickly brought to mind.

[ RON EDMONDS / AP ] One of the bullets fired by John Hinckley Jr. ricocheted off the armored presidential limousine and hit Ronald Reagan in the chest. 

[ Neil Leifer ] Muhammad Ali after round 1, knocks out Sonny Liston.

[ AP / Sipa. ] 

John F. Kennedy shot in Dallas and filmed by Abraham Zapruder, but also Donald Reagan who narrowly escaped death in 1981. It's Muhammad Ali triumphing over Sonny Liston, Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. It's “Rocky”, Rocky Balboa raising his fist.

[ Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, 1945 © Joe Rosenthal ]

But the “Survivor” image remains one of the most emblematic photos of the 20th century, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”, taken in February 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. The reference sticks to the image. Triangular composition with Trump in elevation, theatrical glorification of the scene, highlighting of the flag. Trump's bodyguards use gestures similar to those of the Marines trying to raise the American flag. Democracy has been attacked, but it stands firm, the flag still flying above the stage. Whoever tried to kill the former president failed. We can even glimpse, by analogy, a Donald Trump waving the Star-Spangled Banner.

You only have to look at the other photographs taken of the event to appreciate the difference in treatment. Either the context intervenes, and we're in the realm of informative journalistic testimony. Or we're up close, very close, and it's emotion that emerges, evacuating the symbolic dimension of the image.

[ REBECCA DROKE/Archives AFP / © Bestimage, Zuma Press/Bestimage  / Gene J. Puskar/AP /Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images ]

Chat's really disturbing is the visual reversal achieved by this photograph. We've seen hundreds of images of Trump brandishing his fist, but this time the perception is different. This is not the unpredictable, arrogant, narcissistic politician we know, but a much more positive image, a kind of superhero savior ready to defend a unified America. It has often been said that photography accompanies history, but does not transform it. This image could play a decisive role in the race for the White House. A shift in public opinion. As Joe Biden stumbles and stammers, at a loss for words, Trump is a warrior escaping death. Raising his fist as if in defiance. “I'm alive!”

[ La Liberté guidant le peuple - Eugène Delacroix - Musée du Louvre Peintures RF 129 - après restauration 2024 ]

What Evan Vucci is photographing at this precise moment is not simply a news item, it's an allegory, an image that unfolds a veritable storytelling. It's Delacroix's “Liberty Guiding the People” of 1830: “I knew it was a historic moment for the United States, and that it had to be eternalized,” said Evan Vucci shortly after the assassination attempt. Evan Vucci didn't capture the reality of the moment; what he photographed was a symbol, a political image. And that's what will go down in history.

[ SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP ]

At the time of the shooting, Donald Trump was wearing his trademark red “Make America great again” cap, a must-have accessory that first appeared in 2015 during the Republican primaries. Within a few months, this object would become a symbol, perhaps even a talisman.

Two days after the assassination attempt, Donald Trump received a standing ovation at the Republican convention in Milwaukee. He'll get a standing ovation “USA, USA, USA!” He brandishes his fist, smiling, no longer wearing a cap but a very large white bandage over his ear. No doubt this graphic sign will remind everyone that Trump is a “martyred hero”.

François Chevret