Photographer who captured Trump’s reaction to assassination attempt isn’t ready to call it 'iconic'

Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci snapped this photo of former President Trump in the aftermath of a failed assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The photojournalist who captured the image of former President Trump’s defiant reaction to an assassination attempt Saturday says he was just doing his job and "history will judge whether it is iconic."

Moments after a bullet grazed Trump’s right ear on Saturday, he raised a fist to the crowd of supporters as he was rushed off the stage with blood smeared across his face, Secret Service flanking him, an American flag flying above his head. Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci captured the image that immediately went viral and landed on newspaper front pages across the world. 

"I was literally just thinking about doing the best possible job I could, because I knew that this was a moment in American history that I had to be at the top of my game for," Vucci told Fox News Digital on Monday from Milwaukee, where he was preparing to photograph the Republican National Convention. 

Vucci, a Pulitzer winner who has covered thousands of similar events for the AP since 2003, said the Butler, Pennsylvania rally was "just like any other" until he heard popping sounds over his left shoulder. 

"I knew immediately it was gunfire. I trained my lens on the stage, and I saw Secret Service agents going to run to the president, covering him up. And from that moment, I ran to the stage and I got my wide angle lens, and I started making photographs. I went into work mode," Vucci said. 

"I knew immediately that it was going to be one of the most important things I'll ever photograph, and that I needed to do the best job possible," Vucci continued. "So I just immediately started thinking about, ‘OK, what do I need to do? How do I compose this? What's going to happen next?’"

Vucci switched to a wide angle to ensure the flag flying above got in his shot. He noticed an SUV parked to the side of the stage as Secret Service agents covered Trump and chaos erupted around him. Vucci said he "sprinted" to the side of the stage, assuming it was where Trump would exit, and got in position to snap photos as Trump pumped his fist toward the crowd. 

"That’s where I was when he was coming down… and that's the photo a lot of people are sharing," he said. 

The photo hasn’t merely been shared. It has also been praised as both iconic and instantly historic, and it will be on the next print cover of TIME Magazine. it's also one that could change some people's perceptions forever of Trump, one of the most controversial, beloved and loathed political figures in American history