Unnamed Photo Editor Criticizes Media for Highlighting Iconic Trump Photo Post-Assassination Attempt

An unnamed photo editor at a major news outlet expressed concerns to the Washington Post that the media’s heavy use Saturday of a historic photograph showing former President Trump’s defiant stance after an assassination attempt was acting like “free PR” for the Trump campaign.

An Axios media trend assessment published Tuesday argued that the use of the image too frequently “could pose risks.” The assessment cited unnamed photographers who reportedly felt that by touting the viral photos, they were helping the Trump campaign advance its cause, even if not intending to do so by taking a news photo.

The photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, shows Trump moments after a bullet grazed his right ear, knocking him to the ground, at a rally. The picture portrays Trump raising a fist to his supporters as he is escorted off the stage with blood smeared on his face and flanked by Secret Service agents while an American flag flies overhead. The photo of him went viral immediately, leading the front pages of newspapers and dominated digital news sites and social media platforms worldwide.

Axios cited a photo editor and a photographer from a major news outlet calling for media organizations to avoid using the photo “despite how good it is” in order to not give the former president positive coverage.

“The extent to which publications have been running Evan’s photo is sort of free PR for Trump in a way, and it’s quite dangerous for media organizations to keep running that photo despite how good it is,” the editor told Axios.

The photograph has been hailed as an instant icon, an instant history, and is slated for cover Art in the next print issue of TIME Magazine. Some observers say the image might change the way people think about Trump—one of the most polarizing figures in American political history.

Washington Post art critic Phillip Kennicott called the image “a photograph that could change America forever,” and psychotherapist Jonathan Alter said, “That picture encapsulates the essence” of what people want in a president.