(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Left-wing media outlets are attempting to suppress the now iconic Associated Press images of former President Donald Trump standing defiantly with his fist raised following Saturday’s assassination attempt, Axios reported.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump raises his fist as he is rushed off stage after an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. @apnews pic.twitter.com/VoAYqRC4QV
— Evan Vucci (@evanvucci) July 14, 2024
According to an unnamed photographer at a major news publication, it was imperative that the media stop the spread of the powerful image because it was affording too much positive publicity to the GOP presidential nominee.
The self-appointed information gatekeeper claimed it was “free P.R. for Trump,” adding that it was “dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing that photo despite how good it is.”
The photo in question is now known as the “Evan Photo,” because it was taken by Pulitzer Prize winner Evan Vucci. (There are at least two similar photos in the series, with Trump appearing to shout a battle cry in one, and another with his jaw clenched in a look of steely resolve or triumph.)
Vucci himself avoided taking a sharp political stance, seeming happy just to have taken an iconic photo.
“I was literally just thinking about doing the best possible job I could, because I knew that this was a moment in American history that I had to be at the top of my game for,” he told Fox News.
Still, other photographers have worried that Trump is engaging in “photoganda”—that is, using the image of himself standing tall after the shooting for political ends, when they allegedly took the photo for mere objective reporting purposes.
According to these other unnamed photographers, when the shooting first took place, “no one was talking about how these photos could impact public perception in the rush to get it out.”
But now, despite the millions of views of each photo, they are afraid that Trump supporters may use the iconic images for political ends.
“I don’t think we discussed enough about what these photos could mean,” they added, suggesting that they helped “a propaganda machine,” by allowing Trump to be seen as a “martyr.”
When asked about the very photo by the New York Post on Monday, Trump confirmed to reporters that the image—which compositionally conjures to mind great works like Eugène Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” and Joe Rosenthal’s “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”—was a remarkable achievement.
“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” he said. “They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.”
