After an assassin’s bullet hit former President Donald Trump in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania over the weekend, the former president rose up while surrounded by Secret Service and pumped his fist to rally the crowd.
One photographer caught Trump’s fist pump framed in front of an American flag, a striking image that quickly went viral around the world. Now, online supporters of the former president are trying to turn the fist pump from the rally—where a Trump supporter was also killed—into a symbol of defiance against Trump’s enemies on the left, reappropriating similar symbols from the left-wing political tradition.
One thread on 4chan’s /pol/ board on Sunday laid out the idea with a couple of examples—turning raised black fist symbols more familiar to antifascist and antiracist organizing into orange ones framed by Trump’s hair.
“Decided to put my own spin on it. This is the literal logo they use for marxist/antifa/blm shit,” one poster said next to their version.
“Now we can say we’re fighting fascism,” added another poster.
Other posters suggested that supporters plaster the orange symbol over left-wing symbols wherever they find them.
“Just make the orange hair into stickers of appropriate sizes to slap over BLM or other common lefty fist emblems,” wrote one /pol/ poster.
Many people pointed to Trump’s fist pump as a symbol of defiance and resistance, including an expression of personal physical courage in the face of a deadly threat. Even those who don’t support Trump pointed out how powerful the image is.
“The bloodied face, the fumbling secret service, the raised fist, the roar of defiance, the contrast with Biden’s frailty… his campaign manager couldn’t have scripted it better,” posted @bencoates1.
A Conversation article published on Thursday discussed Trump’s use of the raised fist—and was quickly updated to include news of the assassination and reaction to it. That article documented the many times Trump has raised a fist in reaction to pivotal political moments, including when he was convicted of 34 felonies at the end of May, at his indictment in New York last April, and even as far back as in the 90s.
On X, posters also discussed how the raised fist was being reappropriated by the right thanks to the iconic photograph of Trump.
“We’ve reclaimed the power of a raised fist,” posted @m_tomorrowland. “We will win.”
Other posters challenged Trump fans wanting to use the raised fist, pointing to the history of the it in left-wing political movements by revolutionary forces like the Black Panther Party.
“Btw the raised fist salute means all power to the proletariat,” posted @deanvannguyen. “It’s not for wannabe political strongmen.”
Back on /pol/ though, some people thought it was a turning point for the symbol.
“The right has finally taken back the raised fist,” claimed one 4chan poster.
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