HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Trump faithful at a recent campaign rally pored over red MAGA hats and T-shirts with the former president’s mug shot, but one image emerged as the must-have of the 2024 campaign: the clenched fist.
The photo of a bloodied but unbowed Donald Trump with a raised fist and an American flag waving in the background has been emblazoned on clothing, flags, coffee mugs and just about anything else that will take an image.
The Republican nominee’s supporters are eager to own it.
“This is the most iconic image,” Jameson Fitzpatrick of New Oxford said after picking up a T-shirt while attending his first Trump rally. “We haven’t seen anything inspirational like that in a political candidate in a century.
“You can’t fake this stuff,” he said. “I mean, the guy stood up after being shot and signaled to the crowd, ‘Not only am I OK, but we’re still going to fight.’”
For many of his supporters, Mr. Trump’s miraculous escape from a gunman’s bullet is nothing short of divine intervention. His wounded ear showed that he was about a quarter-inch away from death.
“Jesus is my savior, but he’s the country’s savior,” said Valerie Mansberger, who showed up 12 hours early to see Mr. Trump at the rally in Harrisburg. “I saw this shirt, and that just sums it up.”
She said she had already bought small flags with the image and placed one in her garden and another on a “Trump wall” in her home.
“This shirt represents the fact that Donald Trump fights for the people of the country. He fights to save us,” the 53-year-old substitute teacher said. “He puts himself in harm’s way to protect the citizens, the constitutional values that we have. He took a bullet, and that still didn’t stop him.”
Mr. Trump forged the fist-raised image on his own. He dropped to the ground once he felt the bullet graze his ear before Secret Service agents pounced to shield him.
According to his account, Mr. Trump figured his supporters would wonder whether he was all right as the agents tried to hurry him off the stage. So he poked through the agents, raised his fist and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” It didn’t hurt that he was framed by an American flag fluttering behind him from the vantage point of some of the photographers.
Even hard-core Trump opponents recognized the power of the image, and it helped fuel conspiracy theories that the shooting was staged.
Those selling the merchandise know what they have in the image.
“The ‘Fight Fight Fight’ shirt is a piece of history on your chest. It’s the hottest shirt out,” said one vendor, who gave only his first name, Lee. “I mean this: This picture here is going to go down in history — in infamy.”
He said he has sold hundreds of the shirts.
Other items for sale include “Trumpamania” muscle shirts and hats that read “Guns, God, Trump.” Another shooting-inspired shirt features Mr. Trump flashing the double-bird, emblazoned with “You missed!”
It helps that the Trump merchandise is a relative bargain. The summer’s other hot seller, a Taylor Swift Eras Tour T-shirt, can go for $45.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said he bought his Trump fist-pump shirt for just $10.
“I’m cheap, so it works out well,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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