'Like Iwo Jima': Tommy Thompson calls Trump fist image a moment that will carry his campaign

Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·1 min read
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Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson likened a photo of former President Donald Trump raising his fist after an assassination attempt Saturday to the iconic 1945 photo of Marines hoisting an American flag on top of Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi, and said that image alone will win Trump the election.

"Nothing is going to derail the campaign," Thompson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the floor of the Republican National Convention on Monday.

Thompson, the state's longest-serving governor and one of 41 convention delegates representing Wisconsin, said while Democrats "don't know which direction they're going," Trump "has got the people behind him."

He referenced the electric reception in Fiserv Forum when the former president entered Monday night, his ear bandaged, in his first public appearance since Saturday's shooting.

US Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face, surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on Saturday, in a chaotic and shocking incident that will fuel fears of instability ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage with blood smeared across his face after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, while the gunman and a bystander were killed and two spectators critically injured.

Trump waved as the crowd roared and the cover band played a version of "So Caught Up in You." Singer Lee Greenwood then appeared on the stage to sing "God Bless The USA," and the crowd erupted into loud chants of "USA!" "Fight!" and "We want Trump!"

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, was inspired by the iconic 1945 photograph of six Marines raising a U.S. flag during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. Troop 40 Scoutmaster Don E. Scheerer stood 25 feet away when the flag was raised.
The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, was inspired by the iconic 1945 photograph of six Marines raising a U.S. flag during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. Troop 40 Scoutmaster Don E. Scheerer stood 25 feet away when the flag was raised.

"They go any place, and everybody is screaming for Donald Trump," Thompson said. "It's that kind of enthusiasm that's going to carry this campaign. But it's that picture, that iconic photo, that is going to be the type of thing that's going to go down in history. It's an iconic photo. It's like Iwo Jima all over again with Donald Trump being the center actor."

Trump on Monday also announced Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. The former president is slated to address the convention Thursday.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tommy Thompson says Trump image will lift campaign at RNC in Milwaukee