It’s also striking what a master of the political image Trump is. You can see this in the footage of the shooting in Pennsylvania: after Trump stands up, he raises his fist defiantly to have that image captured.
That image is of course going to define this moment, if not Trump’s entire presidential campaign.
There have been a series of tipping points in this campaign so far, and this may well be the decisive one. It could turn Trump from a martyr to a saint in the eyes of his supporters.
Watching how Trump, his campaign and the people around him use this narrative will be so important, especially in advance of the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to start in Wisconsin in the coming days.
You can already see elements on the right – particularly among Trump’s supporters – attempting to use the assassination attempt to foster conspiracy theories as a rallying point for the former president.A "series of tipping points”? Doesn’t that just render the metaphor meaningless? Isn’t the “tipping point” meant to mark a point of no return? How many of those do you need?
And Trump supporters have already compared Trump to the Biblical David, the leader chosen by God (which actually makes Trump the Messiah, the new David). Which, yes, proves most of Trump’s Christian supporters are just baptized heathens because, yes…that’s blatant blasphemy. So isn’t sainthood a step down from being the Messiah?
And most people not MAGA found that particularly offensive. Is Trumpian sainthood supposed to be more appealing?
We’re still talking about MAGA. A bloody ear is not going to make 5, 10, 20% of Americans suddenly MAGA. Rasmussen argues this will galvanize MAGA to the polls, which 1 or 2% difference could carry the day. That’s more likely. But “the day” is in November, this is mid-July. Long way to go, yet.
And that image will define Trump’s campaign? Trump won’t let it. Trump will always define Trump’s campaign. If Trump were a true politician, he’d let that image speak for him. But Trump can’t stand for his own lawyers to speak for him in court. Every day he had to go to the cameras to make his claims. One result is he’s still subject to a gag order in that case. That image will speak for Trump’s campaign? Only Trump speaks for Trump. He thinks that’s his greatest strength, but it’s the reason he fails: over and over and over again.
Some hot takes really need to cool down.
Teddy Roosevelt lost, while Reagan saw an 8-point boost in popularity that was *entirely* gone 3 months later in a far less polarized time.
— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) July 14, 2024
None of you know how this is going to play out. Just stop confidently acting like sages and admit you’re as dumb as everyone else. https://t.co/xdHVcIzUll
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