And it’s impossible to talk about the former president’s rocky run to voting day without mentioning the moment that created another iconic image and nearly ended the race.
When Trump was shot by a would-be assassin last July in Butler, Pennsylvania, it deeply shook this race and this country. As he stood up, bleeding from his ears, with the help of security guards, he raised his fist high and urged his supporters to fight.
Just 48 hours later, when he showed up at his party’s convention in Milwaukee with gauze over his ears, some in the crowd were crying. I could see tears streaming down the face of a representative standing next to me. This was Tina Ioane, traveling from American Samoa.
“He is an anointed man.” she told me “He is called to lead our country.”
At that stage in the summer, Trump seemed unassailable in the election.
Democrats, meanwhile, were growing increasingly gloomy about their prospects. He is deeply concerned that his candidate, Joe Biden, is too old to win re-election.
I was in the press room watching his rambunctious debate on Trump in late June. There was a stunned silence as we watched Biden’s 50-year political career essentially come to an end before our eyes.
But even then, many of those who publicly suggested he should step down were fired. The Biden campaign even attacked the “bedwetting brigade” calling for him to leave.
Of course, it will only be a matter of time.
Just days after the jubilant Republican National Convention in July, when it seemed Trump could not be defeated, Biden announced that he would withdraw from his bid for re-election. The mood among Democratic supporters soon changed from anxious pessimism to excited anticipation.
Any doubts about whether Kamala Harris was the best candidate were erased a few weeks later at a joyous convention in Chicago. Those who had prepared themselves for defeat were now swept away by a wave of enthusiasm.
The election was “an opportunity to overcome the bitterness, cynicism and divisive struggles of the past,” she said to loud cheers.
But this explosion of excitement did not last. After an initial crash in the polls, Harris struggled to maintain momentum. She appears to have quickly won back traditional Democrats who don’t support Biden but have found it harder to win over key undecided voters.
