Shortly after former US President Donald Trump was arrested on racketeering and conspiracy charges and his mugshot was released by police, Trump’s campaign issued t-shirts bearing the same image. The t-shirt is available for $34 on the Trump campaign’s official website, with the slogan “Never Surrender” inscribed beneath the mugshot. The photograph issued by Georgia officials on Thursday, which shows a scowling Trump only minutes after he was detained on more than a dozen felony counts at an Atlanta jail, could become the most famous of all, disseminated around the world by both supporters and detractors.
Trump, who is running for president in 2024, has already created history by being the first former US president to face criminal charges four times
Trump, who is running for president in 2024, has already created history by being the first former US president to face criminal charges–four times. This was, however, his first time having to pose for a booking shot. Unlike the other authorities, Georgia chose to process him like any other criminal defendant, with fingerprints and a mugshot, in a case related to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. An unsmiling Trump, 77, stares at the camera, his brow furrowed, his mouth tensed, and his crimson tie tightly knotted.
Trump lost no time in exploiting the mugshot, putting it on his social media platform, Truth Social, with a link to his campaign website, where the photograph was prominently featured alongside a donation request. “Today, despite having committed no crime,” he stated on his campaign website, “I was arrested at the notoriously violent Fulton County, Georgia, jail.” “The American people are aware of what is going on. “What has occurred is a travesty of justice and election meddling,” he added.