Donald Trump photo without ear bandage raises eyebrows
www.newsweek.com
Famous photographer Pete Souza has seemingly deleted his X account after a post doubting whether Trump was shot in the ear.

Updates:

Might be best for mods to lock this post at this point (is that a thing on Lemmy?) because this story is basically wrapped. The FBI says a bullet caused some ear damage. Maybe it was bullet shrapnel from a ricochet or something like that, but later photos show the teleprompters in-tact so it wasn’t shards of glass from those. Trump’s usage of the bandage (and the assassination attempt) as symbols and political tools has been discussed at length and I don’t think conspiratorial thinking beyond that is very productive. Pete Souza took his own account down after getting a lot of harassment, so no further conspiracies are needed regarding X-formerly-known-as-Twitter at this time.

A photo of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump taken on Saturday without his ear bandage has sparked a wave of speculation.

The image, taken by Alex Brandon of the Associated Press on July 27 and shared by photojournalist Pete Souza on X, formerly Twitter, shows Trump walking up an airplane staircase with an apparently fully healed ear wound just weeks after he was shot with a high-powered rifle.

Souza, known for his tenure as the chief official White House photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, posted Brandon’s photo on his now-deactivated X account on Saturday, writing, “AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was ‘hit’ by a bullet from an AR-15 assault rifle.”

Souza’s profile, @PeteSouza, which had over 200,000 followers, now reads, “This account doesn’t exist, try searching for another,” implying that he has deleted or deactivated it. If he had been banned, it would read, “Account suspended. X suspends accounts which violate the X rules.”

  • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
    20·
    5 months ago

    Look, a bullet from an AR-15 passing that close to your head is going to create a shockwave sufficient enough to cause permanent hearing damage and probably a minor concussion.

    If it connected with his flesh, even just a “graze”, it would have done a lot more damage, and wouldn’t be completely healed so quickly.

    There’s plenty of evidence of dishonesty here. Trump, at least to some extent, is playing this event up. For example, if the damage to his ear was this minor, why has he been wearing a huge obvious bandage over his whole ear? That alone shows some degree of performance here, the question is exactly how much of this was a performance.

    It’s conspiracy theories like the Obama birther movement that got us into this situation. So just zip it.

    Accusing a well know liar of lying is nowhere near the same as that racist smear campaign, and you fucking know it. Zip it.

    let’s not bring that sort of vibe onto Lemmy. Because I guarantee you Russia and other foreign state actors are looking to promote misinformation

    “Let’s not bring conspiracy energy to Lemmy” Immediately goes full Russiagate

      • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
        2·
        5 months ago

        So AP news publishes a story where literally every source is some 3-letter agency, with the message “even your fellow Americans are Russian Propagandists”, and you’re not even a little bit critical because…

        checks notes

        AP NEWS, removed

        huh, well, I can’t say I was expecting your critical thinking skills to be good, but somehow I’m still disappointed.

        • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 months ago

          Says the guy arguing the Trump shooting was a political stunt.

          …which by the way, just keeps it in the media cycle and makes it seem like people give a shit about Trump.

          The conservatives were getting upset that the story went away so fast, the dumb asses like you bring it back to be all “Look at his ear!”

          So thanks for keeping politics stupid.

    • tgs1999@lemmy.world
      4·
      5 months ago

      “Young Fox” great name, it’s what the “T” in “tgs” stands for.

      This is my point. I’ve grieved for those dead at the event. I believe they were killed.

      I don’t believe Trump was shot and so I come to the conclusion he has planned this entire thing. This is what I’ve come to expect from Trump in his reach for Power.

      If I am wrong, I’m sorry and willing to admit being wrong.

      However, the reason I would be wrong is because Trump is a liar.

        • orcrist@lemm.ee
          2·
          5 months ago

          We know Trump is a liar. He could have released medical records, but he didn’t. So everyone should be suspecting he is still lying about everything, whenever it’s convenient. As for what, you decide. From the start, we knew shrapnel or gear from his bodyguards were possibilities. Those are still on the table.

          Can you imagine how it would have been if instead of grandstanding, he would have immediately offered support for the deceased’s families? If he’s written off the wound as a scratch from the scuffle, instead of necessarily a bullet wound? That would have been a small positive end to a tragic situation. Instead we have reality. Meh.

          • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
            2·
            5 months ago

            Oh yes. Certainly be very suspicious of Trump faking injury (or at least exaggerating).

            My point is “believe” implies you’ve 100% made up your mind.

    • Bgugi@lemmy.world
      2·
      5 months ago

      the earth trembles and the sky parts at the thunderous roar of the might ar15.

      Conspiracies are cool, but don’t just make shit up.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldΕλληνικά
      1·
      5 months ago

      Look, a bullet from an AR-15 passing that close to your head is going to create a shockwave sufficient enough to cause permanent hearing damage and probably a minor concussion.

      This is absolutely false. A .50 cal can go right by your head, and as long as it doesn’t contact, your head, you’ll be fine, possibly with some hearing damage. 5.56 is a lot smaller than that.