University Student Reveals What's Changed In US Campus Politics After The Iconic Trump Photo

The last few weeks have seen tumultuous events in American history. First, the presidential debate led to loud demands for President Biden to withdraw from the race.

Then came the attempt on Republican candidate Donald Trump’s life. A bullet clipped his ear as he turned to explain a PowerPoint slide.

Much has been written about both events but this article will focus on how the chatter on American college campuses has evolved as events have unfolded. This provides a window into how young people are thinking about these events.

As a student at The Pennsylvania State University, I have had a ringside view of how today’s American students think.

Until a few months ago, the general feeling on campuses was that Democrat 'woke' liberals controlled them. There were pro-Democrat posters and open hatred towards Donald Trump, even within classrooms.

As an Indian, with no long-term stake, I watched all of this with amused detachment. One of the things that always struck me was that I’d rarely ever see an American flag on campus apart from the one official flag in front of the main administrative building.

I would more often see flags of other distant nations like Ukraine and Palestine or banners for causes like the LGBTQ+ and the Black Lives Matter movements. This was in major contrast to rural America where an American flag can be found on most front porches. I was told that this gap was not there until as recently as a decade ago.

However, the truth is that American college students aren’t all democrats. The ones who didn’t align with the woke ideologies would simply self-censor to maintain not only their friendships but also their academic standings.

When speaking in classroom environments, everyone stuck to safe topics and aligned themselves with woke points of view because the faculty could be quite aggressive. This was even true of subjects like urban planning and earth science which had no political link.

On multiple occasions, I myself had to write about how “disadvantaged” I was as a “person of colour” while I observed many of my white male peers self-flagellate over “white male privilege.” With this kind of meaningless shaming, even if it worked to my advantage, there was bound to be a backlash.

Until the first half of 2024, the conversations around campus largely surrounded the “Free Palestine” movement. This was encouraged by the faculty. But, from talking to classmates, the mood was not as one-sided as it may appear. Most had no idea or interest in the matter while some were genuinely resentful. Many people were using the conflict as conversation starters and posting about it on their social media as a way to look “cool.”

A Middle Eastern friend of mine even urged me to join the protest saying “Us brown people should be at these events.” While I politely refused, I was thinking to myself, “Would you have joined me if I had organised a protest against terrorism in India in the name of brown solidarity?”

Even those who physically attended these protests had no idea of what the context behind the conflict was. When attempting to discuss this with some of them, I would get defensive or rhetorical responses like “Children are dying…” or “They are being colonised…”

I wondered whether I should point out that our campus was built on Native American land, but I held my tongue.

Before the first presidential debate, which occurred on the 27th of June, the general impression was that President Biden was physically fit for office. When discussing this with my democrat friends, they were convinced that his slip-ups were anomalies and blown out of proportion.

Following the debate, however, the mood began to change. The debate ignited doubt for the liberal students but it wasn’t enough to shift many opinions.

Though many Trump supporters remained silent, the general open discussion was based on the idea that “Biden stumbles but Trump lies” with many claiming that it was simply a singular bad performance for Biden and stating things such as “Trump is like a bully,” “Trump supporters are violent” and “at least Biden isn’t trying to start World War Three.”

On 13 July, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was a shock to the world. With this, came an iconic image of Trump in front of the American flag with his fist raised and blood on his face, only moments after getting shot.

This one photograph changed the narrative for American college students as suddenly, Trump became “cool” and “defiant.” People often forget how malleable and fickle student’s opinions are. I was shocked to see the number of my peers who reposted that image. Many of these same students were reposting liberal content just weeks before.

Watching how political chatter on US campuses evolves has been a great learning experience. As an outsider, I have no skin in the game but I was able to observe how social dynamics play out.

Most importantly, I was able to witness how a single event can suddenly change the conversation. This taught me a lot about human psychology and how history can pivot with a single turn of the head.

This is probably the first time that a PowerPoint slide has changed the minds of so many college students.