NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 He was bleeding from the head after a barrage of bullets flew through his rally when Secret Service agents gave the go-ahead that it was safe to move from the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Donald Trump had something he needed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait, wait, wait!\u201d the former president could be heard telling his agents, who had encircled him in a protective bubble and helped him to his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, his face smeared with blood, forced his right fist through a tangle of agents\u2019 arms. He raised it high into the air before pumping his fist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFight!\u201d he mouthed to the crowd and cameras as he pumped his arm sharply three times, in a sign of undeniable defiance and assurance that he was OK. The gesture sent the crowd cheering, with many rising to their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe gotta move, we gotta move!\u201d an agent shouted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moment was an extraordinary illustration of Trump\u2019s raw political instincts and of how keenly aware he is of the images he projects. Even during unimaginable chaos, Trump stopped and delivered his message, creating iconic photographs and video that are sure to become an indelible part of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has always paid close attention to imagery, aware of his facial expressions, his clothing and camera angles during interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mug shot he took in Atlanta \u2014 in which he glared at the camera \u2014 was seared immediately into the collective memory and emblazoned on campaign T-shirts, posters and other merchandise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his criminal hush-money trial in New York, Trump would mug for the cameras, looking stern and angry, when photographers were led in for a minute each day to document history. As soon as they left, his expression typically relaxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he tested positive for COVID in 2020, Trump refused to let on how sick he really was, according to\u00a0a book by his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. And after his release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received intense treatment, Trump staged\u00a0a dramatic return to the White House, emerging from Marine One and climbing the South Portico steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the balcony, he removed his mask and gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter at sunset, American flags arranged behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her book \u201cConfidence Man,\u201d New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that Trump had considered an even more dramatic scene in which he \u201cwould be wheeled out of Walter Reed in a chair\u201d and, once outside, \u201cwould dramatically stand up, then open his button-down dress shirt to reveal\u201d another with a \u201cSuperman logo beneath it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said in a social media post Saturday night that he \u201cknew immediately that something was wrong\u201d when he \u201cheard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A bullet had pierced the upper part of his right ear, Trump said later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He crouched behind his lectern as agents rushed the stage and piled atop him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When they gave the all-clear that the shooter was down, Trump could be heard telling his agents several times to \u201clet me get my shoes\u201d as they tried to quickly usher him to safety,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he was led across the stage, he held his arm in the air and vigorously pumped it again \u2014 so violently one agent seemed to duck to avoid being hit by his elbow \u2014 before he was helped down the steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crowd erupted into chants of \u201cUSA!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he climbed into his SUV, he raised it high one last time before his agents closed the bulletproof door behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For supporters in the crowd, Trump\u2019s response gave them assurance that he would not back down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jondavid Longo, the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, who was sitting in the front row when the shots began, said he jumped to shield his wife, made sure no one in his immediate vicinity had a firearm, then started yelling for others to get down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was making sure everybody was OK and then I kept looking at the president, of course, because I had just seen the president get shot,\u201d Longo said. \u201cI saw him grab his ear. Then I saw the Secret Service pounce on top of him. I saw them bringing him up. I saw blood on the right side of his head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after, he said, Trump \u201cput his fist in the air. He let us know he was OK, and they escorted him away. It was just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kristen Petrarca, 60, said she is a Democrat, but supports Trump and wanted to experience one of his rallies. She and a group of friends arrived early and she got a seat in the bleachers behind Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, she heard gunshots: \u201cPop, pop, pop, pop,\u201d she said during a Zoom interview from a nearby hotel hours after the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She watched as Trump grabbed his ear and the Secret Service agents rushed the podium. She saw the former president raise his fist in the air as blood streamed from his ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel that he was scared. He was angry, he was mad,\u201d she said. \u201cHe wanted to fight, and he wanted us to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 He was bleeding from the head after a b […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3388,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386\/revisions\/3388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}