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On Jan 6 when Trump wanted to go to the Capitol after he wrapped his speech, the Secret Service refused to drive him there. Trump ended up not going to the Capitol, even though he could have just walked, as many of the people who watched his speech did.
Had the Secret Service been more willing to accomodate Trump we might have never had rioters breaking into the Capitol.
I wonder if his experience then influenced his instincts to defy the Secret Service so that he could pause and raise a fist for the crowd.
What occurred to me is that despite all the handwringing regarding a violent right-wing backlash to the event, I believe his fist-pump display actually curbed such an impulse in that very moment.
Imagine if Trump had been immediately dragged off the stage, and how ambiguous that image would have been. Is he dead? Is he alive? Is he wounded badly and will bleed out soon? Maybe physically impaired? What the fuck just happened? Is something going to be 'off' if and when he shows up again?
Trump gave 'proof of life' with that act. It wasn't enough to have him merely standing, or to provide a follow-up "I'm fine!" tweet that people may not trust. He snapped back into his usual shape and reassured everybody thay he was OK. And so it ends with cheers and jubilation instead of the wailing and gnashing of teeth. A lot could have happened in those few minutes, and the energy ultimately got redirected to Trump himself.
Anybody bitching about his fist-pump while also shaking in their boots about political violence can't see two feet in front of themselves.
I can't see how anyone wouldn't love that fist pump. It is badass and awesome and defiant in a good way. I can understand people not liking chants of "fight, fight" at the convention, but personally I don't mind it given context.
I saw a lot of comments ranging from the boring "ugh, Trump needlessly showboating again" to "He's making the SS' jobs difficult" and finally to "that he was even allowed to do that means this was staged".
Ignoring the third one since you would have to be insane to keep up that line today, I'll have to admit that they may not even be wrong on the first two. In the fog of it, Trump was exposing himself to further danger for the sake of a visual display. And he was indeed holding up his protection while they did their thing. But in the end, it was absolutely worth it and the correct move to make.
The image is awesome, and I think most Dems are honest enough to admit that. They're just reluctant to give it any credit.
In fact, him doing this in the heat of the moment amid gunfire is largely the reason why it was the correct move. It was a display of masculine bravado. Perfect contrast, not only to the sitting president, but to pretty much every other politician. The resulting photographs alone are invigorating. Trump is effectively an avatar of masculinity in a culture which largely degradates it.
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Exactly what I was thinking of.
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