It’s the latest trend at the RNC: Donald Trump’s supporters are wearing fake bandages on their right ear after he survived the assassination attempt.
“Everybody in the world is going to be wearing these pretty soon,” one man wearing a bandage tells @edokeefe on the convention… pic.twitter.com/QAPDU6ZTzl
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 17, 2024
Some Arizona delegates are sporting mock ear bandages in honor of Trump — pic.twitter.com/z6M28GNkRR
— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) July 17, 2024
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — It’s called fashion, look it up.
The Daily Beast on Tuesday spotted a number of attendees at the Republican National Convention wearing bandages over their ears in an apparent act of solidarity with former President Donald Trump—with many predicting that the impromptu trend would only gain steam in the coming days.
Trump made a surprise appearance while sporting his own bandage Monday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the convention is being hosted, walking out to raucuous cheers. His arrival came just days after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, during which a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at Trump from a nearby rooftop.
Trump escaped with only minor injuries to his right ear—his former doctor, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), said that he examined the wound Tuesday and said “a little bit” was missing.
“He was lucky though,” the Texas representative said. “It was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effect from the bullet, and it just took the top of his ear off.”
The bandage worn by Trump, a conspicuous reminder of the attempt on his life, quickly reached high fashion status at the Republican gathering in Milwaukee in the hours after Trump’s appearance.
One woman spotted by The Daily Beast styled the bandage with a cowboy hat and a red lanyard featuring pins for the GOP in Texas and Arizona.
Joe Neglia, a delegate from Tempe, Arizona, gave an interview to CBS News about his own makeshift bandage, which he said was made from an envelope that he fashioned on the way to the convention Tuesday morning. He called it “the newest fashion trend.”
“Everybody in the world is going to be wearing these soon, it’s the latest thing,” Neglia told the network.
In another video posted on X, a man dressed in an Uncle Sam costume wears a fake bandage on his ear while performing a cover of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” on a harmonica.
Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman armed with an AR-15 style rifle fired eight rounds from a nearby rooftop—grazing the former president’s ear, critically injuring two people, and killing one supporter.
The former president arrived at the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin wearing a thick bandage over his ear.
Although Trump’s campaign has not officially disclosed what the president was treated for after he was rushed from the stage, his former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) said the bullet “just took the top of his ear off.”
