Yes, it’s an impressive photograph. You know the one I’m talking about. Trump, bloody, angry, fist raised. I’m not going to post it because I’m already sick of it. But it’ll probably win a lot of photojournalist awards, and rightly so. A lot of folks (and by ‘folks’ I mean ‘political pundits’) believe that photo is going to help Trump in the coming election. They think it’ll carry Trump along on a groundswell of sympathy.
A lot of folks are wrong.
Had it been anybody other than Trump, they’d probably be right. But we’re talking about Comrade Donald J. Trump here. Trump is different. There’s not a lot of sympathy for Trump. Perhaps the most remarkable (and, in a very real way, incredibly sad) aspect of the assassination attempt against Trump is this: so many people are disappointed that it failed.
Yes, that’s a horrible thing to say. But there it is. I’ve heard it and I suspect you’ve heard it as well. It’s usually expressed in a soft voice–maybe even a whisper–and it’s often said with more than a little shame. But it’s being said all the same. Regret that Trump didn’t catch one of those rounds fired.
The people saying this aren’t raging ideologues, they’re not political junkies, they’re not rabid progressives or conspiracy nuts. They’re regular people. Moms to their kids, people in the produce aisle at the market, couples eating smashburgers at a diner. They’re saying stuff like, “You know, I don’t really want anybody to get shot, I’m opposed to any sort of violence, but….” And they let that ‘but’ hang there, and the person they’re talking to frowns and nods. Or maybe they turn it into a joke. “Nobody’s been that disappointed by a couple of inches since Stormy Daniels.” And we cringe and groan, but we’re still nodding.
Most people who feel this way are properly reluctant to say it out loud. It’s a horrible thing to say. It’s a horrible thing to feel. I mean, we’re decent people–or we try to be. But that thought and feeling is out there, and it’s widespread. And it’s Trump-specific.
If it had been anybody other than Trump…
gregfallis.com 
Coming from a history of stage acting/directing, it comes naturally to me to study the emotional responses of others. From that perspective, the “fist pump of defiance” seen in the photo-which-shall-not-be-shown was not an anger response or a strength response. It was a fear response masking as anger or strength. And fear is the most appropriate response in that moment, but showing fear is interpreted as showing weakness. Turning fear into strength is the weak response.
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In dogs this is known as ‘fear-biting’. When a timid dog is in a situation it doesn’t know how to handle, it responds by baring its teeth and biting. It’s a panic reaction, not aggressiveness or bravery.
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Yes, the whispers are almost deafening.
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I can’t tell you how many people have said something like, “I know I shouldn’t say this, but…” and the ‘but’ is always “I’m kinda sorry he missed.”
The fact that it’s SO common tells us how deeply unpopular Trump is among ordinary folks.
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People are starting to behave as if he’s won already. Now this terrible pick for VP!
I’m living in fear for my friends in the US and for everyone in Eastern Europe. If this happens. It’s game over for the sovereignty of Ukraine and many other surrounding former USSR countries. And all because so many Americans are supporting this horrible MAGA movement and hero worshiping he who should have been stood 2″ to the right.
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You know, I’m scared that Trump could win…but at the same time, I’m not very worried that he will. That sounds silly–to be scared but not worried–but that’s how I feel.
Trump has never won a majority of the US popular vote, though he did squeak by in the Electoral College in 2016. The only REAL risk is that he intends to challenge the vote totals in court, and he may have appointed enough MAGA judges to influence the election.
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