President Donald Trump‘s supporters expressed outrage after an iconic photo from the presidential campaign was not recognized for a coveted Pulitzer Prize award.
The photo of Trump raising his fist and shouting ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ after he was shot in the ear by an attempted assassin, was taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci.
TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk described the photo as ‘maybe the single most famous photo of the past decade.’
‘But because it made Trump look good, the Pulitzer Prize committee just refused to give it the award for best breaking news photograph of 2024,’ he wrote on X. ‘Total joke.’
‘So telling and tragic,’ agreed Sen. Mike Lee of Utah on X.
The photo became a powerful symbol during the presidential campaign as Trump supporters rallied to his cause.
It was so iconic that a photo editor at a major news outlet suggested it was ‘dangerous’ to keep using it during the campaign.
The ‘amount that publications have been using Evan’s photo is kind of free P.R. for Trump in a way, and its dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing that photo despite how good it is’ an unnamed editor of a major news organization told Axios.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally after the president was shot in the ear
Evan Vucci, staff photographer with AP Associated Press on the campaign trail
A photo from the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania by New York Times photographer Doug Mills won the Pulitzer award instead, as it captured the would-be assassin’s bullet before it struck Trump in the ear.
‘I know the winner is enormously deserving, but I still find it hard to believe that this photo did *not* win the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography,’ Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York wrote on X.
Trump supporters felt the president’s fight photo was more iconic and at least deserved consideration.
‘Regardless of obvious bias, we all know this is the best photo,’ Judy Keister wrote on X.
‘That is absolutely one of the best pictures, ever, for an American president,’ Sandy Coatney agreed on X.
‘That is absolutely ridiculous. Like Trump or not you cannot deny that photo is amazing and absolutely captures Trumps Fight to regain the Whitehouse. It’s ludicrous actually,’ Albert Connell wrote on X
‘This is clearly the #1 most iconic photo of 2024. Possibly the most iconic photo of the last 20 years,’ wrote Matt Van Swol on X
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event
‘I totally agree with you on this. I have a lot of issues with the Associated Press but AP’s Evan Vucci was ROBBED by the Pulitzer committee for not getting their photography award of the Trump assassination attempt. Of the many photos taken that day HIS was the THE iconic one,’ wrote social media user ‘Wooly Mammoth.’
‘Evan Vucci’s photo of Trump moments after the 2024 assassination attempt—bloodied face, fist raised—defined the decade. But because it made Trump look strong, the Pulitzer committee snubbed it,’ wrote X user Lionel. ‘That’s not journalism. That’s partisan theater.’
Vucci’s photo was not even a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, despite the extraordinary risks he took to capture it.
U.S. Secret Service agents respond after Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was shot
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa
He later revealed to Poynter that he sprang into action after he heard the sounds of gunfire over his shoulder.
‘At the moment I heard the shots being fired,’ Vucci explained, ‘I knew that this was a moment in American history that had to be documented. It’s our job as journalists to do this work.’
Vucci’s photo was soon described as the ‘definitive’ photo from that day, after the president was rushed out of the rally location to the emergency room.
A painting of President Donald Trump hangs in the Cross Hall at the White House
A painting of US President Donald Trump is seen in Cross Hall at the White House ahead of an event
‘Without question, Evan’s photo will become the definitive photo from the (assassination) attempt,’ Patrick Witty, a former photo editor at Time, The New York Times and National Geographic told the Associated Press.
‘It captures a range of complex details and emotions in one still image — the defiantly raised fist, the blood, the agents clamoring to push Trump off stage and, most importantly, the flag. That’s what elevates the photo.’
President Trump is a fan of the photo and hung up a painted version of the iconic scene at the White House.
Trump’s painting replaced the official portrait of former President Barack Obama which was moved to a different location.
