Trump’s attempted assassination becomes a potent political force in a single striking image

By now you’ve almost certainly seen the picture: Donald Trump, his face bloodied in the wake of an attempted assassination, his fist raised to the sky, flanked by Secret Service agents as an American flag flutters in the background. As the country reels from its first major presidential assassination attempt in decades, photographs of Trump before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ hail of gunfire have quickly become some of the most inescapable political imagery in modern memory.

“I just went into work mode, and I just started doing my job,” said Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci to CNN. “It was scary as hell, in hindsight,” agreed The New York Times’ Doug Mills to the same network. “Probably did not make the most wise decision for my safety. But I was doing my job.” For Getty’s Anna Moneymaker, the goal was to simply “document history and get the picture.” But of all the shots taken during those frantic, frightening moments, Vucci’s image of the defiant-seeming Trump with his fist held high has become something more than simply a “document” of this historic event. Instead, it’s become a photograph that could alter the trajectory of the presidential election — and in doing so, change the course of history for the United States.

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