That picture is also being sold at this week’s Republican National Convention. Two weeks after practically being killed, Trump entered Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum to a””, as Vanity Fair‘s Eric Lutz put it. The past, and probably coming, leader wore a big, bright bandage on his right ear, quickly sparking among visitors. Of course, since first going in 2016, Trump has inspired a cult-like following on the right, with the near-fatal killing just seeming his followers ‘ passion.
Photographer Bruce Gilden captured at obscene rallies in 2020 for Vanity Fair as well as the following year. This week, Gilden captured the Republican Party rallying around Trump for a third time, in a series of stunning photos, from vivid portraits of political allies, like Roger Stone, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Kevin McCarthy, to shots of selfie-taking convention-goers soaking up the spectacle. Dana White, the UFC boss, was seen making the rounds.
Few could have anticipated the scenario three and a half years ago, when Trump abruptly quit as president after inciting an uprising at the US Capitol. It’s a remarkable display of a political party in thrall to one man. But despite indictments—and conviction—Trump took the stage Thursday night as the party’s standard-bearer. He began in an uncharacteristically subdued manner, recounting last Saturday’s shooting, only to into a rambling stump speech, offering a dark, right-wing vision for America before the balloons dropped.
