SANDOVAL: Liberals Can’t Stand This Photo Of Trump Or What It Symbolizes

When you picture the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, what image comes to mind? 

For most, it’s Trump emerging from a huddle of security, blood streaking across his face, fist pumping defiantly above: fight, fight, fight. 

That photo, taken by Evan Vucci of the Associated Press, did not win the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. Instead, the Pulitzer committee awarded the prize to Doug Mills of The New York Times for a series of photos of the attempted assassination, including one photograph taken seconds before the bullet hit Trump’s ear. The photo captures the bullet mid-flight, mere moments before collision.

This photo, by Doug Mills of the New York Times, just rightly won a Pulitzer Prize.

It is a harrowing reminder of how close our country was to absolute disaster, and how lucky we are to have a fighter like President Trump in office. pic.twitter.com/XQstqYAYyG

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 6, 2025

Mills’ photo is remarkable in its own right. It illustrates the true peril Trump escaped only by a perfectly timed turn of the head. But Vucci’s photo is iconic in the truest sense of the word. It is an extraordinary portrait of a man who refuses to surrender, even after taking a shot to the head. 

From a compositional standpoint, too, Vucci’s photo is superior. It is dynamic, alive with the contrasting movement of Trump rising and the members of his security detail pulling him low. Their bodies form a visual triangle, drawing the eye upwards to Trump’s raised fist. The American flag flies askew in the background. (RELATED: Deadly Sabotage Could Destroy Trump’s Legacy, And America Too) 

Mills’ photo is static except for the exception of the blurred projectile streaking towards the president. Granted, Mills’ portfolio of winning work includes a photo of Trump’s fist-raising moment. But it is a decidedly less accomplished composition, confused by visual clutter in the foreground and background, and missing the American flag. 

Why, then, would the Pulitzer committee snub Vucci? 

“He took the better photo,” some will maintain. One can argue about art until they’re blue in the face (and make a pretty good career out of doing so, too.) But there’s a simple explanation for the committee’s decision: they couldn’t stand to recognize a visual symbol of triumph for Trump and his supporters. Given the nature of the other prize recipients — journalists hailing from Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc. — this doesn’t seem an unreasonable conjecture. 

Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatalieIrene03