The image is a powerful one – former president Donald Trump, standing beneath an American flag, his fist held high in a demonstration of abject defiance, blood on his right cheek and ear, the result of a wound inflicted by an assassin’s bullet. Though shielded by Secret Service agents, Trump’s head is exposed, held high with a scowl that signals strength, resolve, and confrontation.
Trump’s reaction and posture in the wake of an assassination attempt Saturday afternoon during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, stand in stark contrast to the image President Joe Biden portrays – that of a failing, frail old man who has a difficult time navigating stairs and maintaining his train of thought.
The American spirit is one of strength, resolve, rebellion, defiance, and stubbornness. In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Trump showed all of those qualities and more.
That said, Donald Trump is not what I would consider to be a good person. He’s a serial liar, philanderer, bully, and convicted felon who shows little regard for others. His message is not one based on policy but emotion, which is but one reason why I believe he has such little regard for the truth. Emotion is rooted in feeling not fact.
Trump has done a profoundly effective job of portraying himself as the defender of the middle class. He rails against the elites of politics, education, business, and media. Trump somehow manages to convince members of the middle class that he is their protector and advocate despite being a billionaire (Forbes has his net worth at $5.2 billion) who is himself a member of the business and media elite.
Part of his appeal, I believe, is timing. The middle class believes it has become disenfranchised, with entitlement programs pandering to the lower class while the wealthy are privy to the perks and favors that preserve their position at the pointy end of the economic field. Trump has stepped in and whipped his supporters into a frenzy, feeding on their feelings of fear and loathing for those who they perceive to have forgotten them. His rhetoric is negative, adversarial, and rooted in defiance.
It’s not terribly difficult for him to make his case. The Democratic Party, which has been hijacked by those who advocate social issues with which most of middle America can neither understand nor support, has left the door wide open for someone like Trump. Men becoming women, the emphasis on identity politics and intersectionalism, the destruction of women’s sports by men who suddenly identify and compete as women, wide open borders, rampant antisemitism, and countless other bizarre planks to their platform leave many Americans scratching their heads.
Against the backdrop of the far left is the former president, bleeding from a bullet wound, pausing as Secret Service agents are trying to rush him out of harm’s way, and belligerently urging his supporters to fight, fight, fight. It is a powerful display of rebellion and contempt.
Let me ask you this: Who would you rather have as your commander in chief – an elderly man who can’t walk up a flight of stairs or someone who stares down an assassin? That may not be an entirely fair question but it’s one that is burned into my mind.
I am no Donald Trump supporter. I have been a critic for a long time. His rhetoric has worn out its welcome on me. I do not like his blatant disregard for the truth, his affinity for authoritarian figures, or the constant chaos and confrontation that follow him.
And yet there is that image – the former president standing under a flag, not running away but holding his ground after being shot, face streaked with blood. It’s a powerful photo, one that cannot be ignored.
I don’t like the way the picture resonates with me. I don’t like the direction it’s pushing me. There is still plenty to dislike about Donald Trump. But in a culture mired in chaos and ever-shifting social and moral norms, we need strength and stability.
And nothing I’ve seen in the last four years demonstrates those two qualities more than Trump’s posture and actions in the moments after that bullet sliced his right ear.
It’s something I will wrestle with from now until November.