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Unfastened
In the age of the visual, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is the 51st star.
By Vanessa Friedman
Vanessa Friedman has been closely following the creation of the presidential symbol since Bush’s campaign against Gore.
When Donald J. Trump held his post-sentencing press conference at Trump Tower following his secret trial in May, he did so with his trademark red (tie), white (shirt) and blue (suit) status, in front of so many flags. It looked like a head moving in an ocean of patriotic hues.
It was something of a star-studded stage for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who, more than any of his predecessors, embraced the flag as his official fashion inspiration, images to make it synonymous with himself. (A public fact is that today, June 14, is his birthday and Flag Day, a date designated by Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to commemorate the official adoption of the American flag. )
In almost every primary appearance, Trump remains planted in a forest of flags: 54 of them on the last night of the 2020 Republican conference alone. As he steps out of Trump Air, he passes under a towering flag that flies proudly on his tail, the colors of which are reflected in his garments as if he himself descended from a waving flag.
“Most presidents have one flag when they speak, maybe two,” said Lindsay M. Chervinsky, a senior fellow at Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History and author of the upcoming e-book “Making the Presidency. “
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