Donald Trump’s supporters have branded him “tough” for his defiant handling of last night’s assassination attempt.
The 45th president, 78, repeatedly uttered the word “fight” as blood ran down his cheek after a bullet pierced the “top” of his right ear.
The sight of a bloodied Trump raising his fist could be defining, sending his popularity soaring ahead of the November election, recalling the shooting of Ronald Reagan in 1981 when the country rallied around him.
Trump threw himself to the ground after would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired at least eight bullets at the Republican candidate just minutes after his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The US Secret Service swooped on Trump before he rose to his feet in a show of defiance that was captured in a photo seen around the world.
The image of Trump with his arm raised as officers gather around him with an American flag waving in the background is already iconic, as the former president refused to leave the stage without his shoes.
His son Donald Trump Jr. posted the image on his X account, which has been viewed more than 13 million times. He wrote triumphantly alongside it: “He will never stop fighting to save America.”
Donald Trump’s supporters believe last night’s assassination attempt and the image of the former president’s raised fist could galvanize him ahead of the election.
The US Secret Service swooped on Trump before he rose to his feet in a show of defiance that was captured in a photo seen around the world.
Trump raised his fist toward the crowd and did not appear to be seriously injured as he walked off the stage alone, surrounded by Secret Service agents.
His son Donald Trump Jr. posted the image on his X account and it has been viewed more than 13 million times.
It is the first assassination attempt since Ronald Reagan was shot as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC in 1981.
The White House released this photograph taken at the Capitol Hilton seconds before President Reagan was shot.
An assassination attempt on President Reagan ended with his press secretary, James Brady, shot in the head. A police officer and a Secret Service agent were also wounded.
John Hinckley Jr., Reagan’s alleged assassin
Sitting members of Congress also posted the photo as Republican Derrick Van Orden declared that Trump “just won the election.”
Ahead of next week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Trump is expected to receive a hero’s welcome when he officially accepts his party’s nomination.
Republican strategist Mike Murphy said Political‘The raised fist will become the iconic symbol of the convention.’
Republican Congressman Tim Burchett believes the attempted assassination of Trump will “energize the base more than anything else.”
“And he, you know, with his fist in the air and he didn’t want to leave. And he was screaming: fight, fight, fight. That will be the motto,” he said. Political.
It is the first assassination attempt since Reagan was shot as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC on March 30, 1981.
He had just given a speech to union members and was 70 days into his first term when John W. Hinckley Jr. pulled the trigger six times in 1.7 seconds.
A bullet that deflected off the side of a limousine landed just an inch from Reagan’s heart.
UK reform leader Nigel Farage said he would travel to the US for the convention as a “show of friendly solidarity” with Trump.
Mr Farage said he would “almost certainly have been” at Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania had he not won his Clacton seat in the general election.
He told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: ‘The convention is next week and I’ve now decided I’ll be flying out to see him next Thursday and hear his acceptance speech.
“I will do so without hesitation as a sign of friendly solidarity. Donald Trump is not perfect, but some of the things people are allowed to say about him are downright appalling.”
Police personnel stand over the body of Thomas Matthews Crooks on a rooftop.
Officers stand guard outside a cordon in Bethel Park as police search an address registered to Crooks
The former president appeared to have been shot in the ear
Trump had blood running down his cheeks as Secret Service agents placed him on the ground.
Blood can be seen gushing from the side of the former president’s head.
Mr Farage said a drink was thrown at him “as recently as last Wednesday”, adding on the security of MPs: “I find it astonishing that MPs can walk across the square and get on the London Underground. I find it astonishing that, frankly, more MPs aren’t attacked.”
“That’s how unpleasant a lot of the narrative is. It’s become deeply personal and I’m afraid that (a lot of people already dislike this), but if we want people to run for office, we’re going to have to protect them properly.”
UFC fighters have also rallied around Trump, with former welterweight champion Colby Covington declaring him “the toughest man on the face of the earth.”
“God bless him and his family at this time,” he added on X.
Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland said: ‘Trump is a complete savage… A man gets shot and he’s still like that for his people… A complete savage…’
Meanwhile, after his fight at Saturday’s UFC event, Evan Elder praised Trump.
“Hey, I heard they tried to beat up my friend Trump,” he said. “I’m glad that man is okay. Long live Trump. Come on, baby Trump 2024.”
One member of the crowd was killed in the deadly shooting, while two others were injured and are in critical condition. All three are men, according to authorities.
Covington is a staunch Trump supporter and visited him at the White House in 2018.
Crooks was shot dead by a US Secret Service sniper after he opened fire from a rooftop just 150 yards from where Trump was standing.
His father, Matthew Crooks, 53, said CNN He was trying to figure out “what the hell was going on,” but would “wait until he talked to the police” before speaking.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was armed with “an AR-style rifle.”
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump thanked the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies “for their swift response.”
“I knew immediately something was wrong because I heard a whistling sound, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet go through my skin,” she said on social media.
‘There was a lot of bleeding and then I realized what was happening.
“I want to thank the United States Secret Service and all law enforcement agencies for their quick response,” Trump added.
‘Most importantly, I would like to express my condolences to the family of the person who died in the demonstration, and also to the family of another person who was seriously injured.
“It is incredible that such an act could occur in our country.
‘GOD BLESS AMERICA!’