Trump’s Mug Shot, Uncle Sam, and Churchill

Trump’s Mug Shot, Uncle Sam, and Churchill

Trump’s mugshot was meant to deeply humiliate him, something the left has been hoping for during all the years of Trump’s presidency and beyond. Now that the photo has been released, the left has been chortling with vengeful glee. They seem to think that Wile E. Coyote has finally caught the Road Runner, and the mugshot is the proof.

However, Trump has long been the consummate showman. He knows the mugshot’s value and had some ideas of his own about what he wanted the photo to convey:

As Professor Jacobson wrote:

The reaction among OnlyTrump supporters on social media is nothing short of euphoric, they see in that image victory to come for someone falsely accused … NeverTrump haters … see the opposite, a criminal rightly accused who is dangerous …

… [Among] people who are neither OnlyTrump nor NeverTrump … I think the reactions may be more mixed. Clearly, a desire for retribution is in his eyes — deliberately — but whether that is what people want in a general election candidate is the wild card.

And what was my reaction to the Trump mugshot? I have little doubt that Trump carefully planned his expression and meant it to send a message. To me, it immediately conjured up this image from the past:

The Uncle Sam poster was used for recruitment during the two world wars, a rallying cry for patriotism and unity in a cause. I very much assume Trump adopted a similar expression—even to the eyebrows—consciously and purposely, although perhaps many people will receive the message only subliminally.

I also have no doubt much money will be made off it in the form of T-shirts and the like, perhaps by both sides.

But Trump’s expression also reminded me of another iconic and defiant image, and I believe the resemblance to that one is purposeful and planned as well. The image that came to my mind is the famous Karsh portrait of Churchill (it can be found here).

It was taken in 1941 and is known as ‘The Roaring Lion’ photo:

The photograph was shot on December 30, 1941, in the Speaker’s Chamber of the Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons at Parliament in Ottawa after Churchill delivered his “Some chicken, some neck” speech on World War II to Canadian members of parliament.

Churchill is particularly noted for his posture and facial expression, likened to the wartime feelings that prevailed in the UK—persistence in the face of an all-conquering enemy. The photo session was only to last two minutes. Karsh asked the prime minister to put down his cigar, as the smoke would interfere with the image. Churchill refused, so just before taking the photograph, Karsh quickly moved toward the prime minister and said, “Forgive me, sir,” while snatching the cigar from his subject’s mouth. Karsh said, “By the time I got back to the camera, he looked so belligerent, he could have devoured me”. His scowl has been compared to “a fierce glare as if confronting the enemy”. Following the taking of the photo, Churchill stated, “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed,” thus giving the picture its notable name.

Note also that in his Twitter (X) message that contains the mugshot, Trump wrote “NEVER SURRENDER!,” which is a quote from Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech, given in the House of Commons after Dunkirk on June 4, 1940:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender …

We are not in an actual hot war on the domestic front. But we are in a fight against the left for the continuation of the republic as we’ve known it. Trump is well aware of that; he knows what’s at stake. He said it quite some time ago, in December of 2019, also on Twitter. Note the expression on his face; it’s almost identical to the mug shot, and here the reference to the Uncle Sam poster is even clearer, because he includes the pointing finger:

So, what happens now? Will most people just accept the banana-republicization of our country? I don’t know. I think everyone in America should be outraged at the lawfare mounted against both Trump and his lawyers, but the sentiment is by no means universal. I also strongly believe that the activist left is very much hoping for some violence from the right, so that they can crack down on them even further.

And what am I hoping for? I’m hoping that this latest leftist enterprise wakes enough people up to what’s really happening, and the left loses power as a result—even though leftists clearly seem to think that they will never lose power again.

[Neo is a writer with degrees in law and family therapy, who blogs at the new neo.]

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.