Updates:
Might be best for mods to lock this post at this point (is that a thing on Lemmy?) because this story is basically wrapped. The FBI says a bullet caused some ear damage. Maybe it was bullet shrapnel from a ricochet or something like that, but later photos show the teleprompters in-tact so it wasn't shards of glass from those. Trump's usage of the bandage (and the assassination attempt) as symbols and political tools has been discussed at length and I don't think conspiratorial thinking beyond that is very productive. Pete Souza took his own account down after getting a lot of harassment, so no further conspiracies are needed regarding X-formerly-known-as-Twitter at this time.
A photo of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump taken on Saturday without his ear bandage has sparked a wave of speculation.
The image, taken by Alex Brandon of the Associated Press on July 27 and shared by photojournalist Pete Souza on X, formerly Twitter, shows Trump walking up an airplane staircase with an apparently fully healed ear wound just weeks after he was shot with a high-powered rifle.
Souza, known for his tenure as the chief official White House photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, posted Brandon's photo on his now-deactivated X account on Saturday, writing, "AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was 'hit' by a bullet from an AR-15 assault rifle."
Souza's profile, @PeteSouza, which had over 200,000 followers, now reads, "This account doesn't exist, try searching for another," implying that he has deleted or deactivated it. If he had been banned, it would read, "Account suspended. X suspends accounts which violate the X rules."
Is it very stupid that Souza's account was deleted for this picture?
Yes.
Is Trump a nonstop POS liar?
Also yes.
Is it possible Trump got astoundingly lucky, and the bullet just barely grazed the top of his earlobe, and this would cause the amount of blood seen, and basically just a superficial scratch?
Again, yes.
This kind of wound is typically called a 'graze'. It is consistent with the trajectory the shooter was firing from and the direction Trump was facing.
There is another bandage pic of Trump with more localized bandaging which to me indicates the bullet likely just barely grazed the top rear ish of his upper earlobe:
https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_785,w_1396,x_71,y_417/dpr_2.0/c_limit,w_740/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1721521240/2024-07-20T234811Z_1974208635_RC2BZ8AIGZCS_RTRMADP_3_USA-ELECTION-TRUMP-VANCE_tdyjjf
Could it possibly have been caused by shrapnel or fragments of a teleprompter or some other object?
Yes, but, in the case of shattering teleprompter glass, shattered glass fragments are generally more rough and jagged surfaces than a spinning bullet, which on average would lead to an even more fucked up wound and more blood.
I keep hearing this claim that the teleprompter shattering was what actually caused the wound, despite the picture of what seems to literally be the bullet and it warping the air passing in an exact trajectory that would align with an astoundingly lucky and light graze.
Are there pictures, video, audio showing the teleprompter shattered, or being shattered?
Pete Souza posted on Instagram that he suspended his Twitter account himself. Apparently he was receiving a lot of hate (big surprise) and also drew fire inadvertently to the photographer of the photo
"Free speech is the most important thing... But if you call me out on my bullshit I'll kill your fucking family"
-these people
That's all fine. But also, Trump could and should just release the record of the medical visit. That would quiet a lot of this down. The outrage comes from the "oh my god I was shot with a bullet" and the "look how strong I am" vibe trump is giving off while also not releasing any real evidence aside from the footage of the day.
But I would suspect all of that to be intentional. A void of information creates a vacuum that fills with misinformation and speculation and that causes discourse which is all trump wants.
Oh yes, I completely agree with you that Trump should release the records of the hospital visit and cooperate with instead of needlessly antagonize investigators.
Unfortunately, he's Trump, and as you say, he is probably at least somewhat cognizant that a vacuum of information has already lead to baseless speculation, and he certainly knows that in a chaotic miasma of people operating with entirely different 'facts', he can later stir the pot to his advantage.
There's a frame showing both teleprompters intact after he was shot
A picture taken after the attempt showed that both teleprompters were in tact
Souza deleted his own account.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4798519-former-white-house-photographer-deletes-x-account/
Allegedly
Did you read his Instagram post linked in the article?
Instagram? I'm not a boomer, man.
Ear lobes are on the bottom
Ok, sure, the technical phrasing would be something like 'a superficial grazing bullet wound to the exterior, superior portion of the helix of the right ear.'
The picture doesn’t give a 3D placement for the bullet, it doesn’t prove anything. We are seeing an x,y picture without any frame of reference for the z-axis. The trail tells us little due to the limitations of digital photography and the camera used.
The glass fragments are not more rough, that’s not really a good way to describe the two surfaces. The glass also would not have shattered, it would have ruptured. The two are different mechanical differences for what happened. The amount of kinetic energy in the glass fragments would have been very high.
The glass fragments would have been much sharper than the rounded bullet. It’s essentially 1,000 flying small knives bumping into each other.
The photo could have been mirrored for stylistic purposes, but you'd think the photographer would have come out and said something by now.
Someone in another thread mentioned that it doesn't appear to be mirrored judging by how Trump has his hair, it's asymmetrical and stylized toward the left. Hence not mirrored.