"It’s the latest thing": RNC attendees wear ear bandages in solidarity with Trump

Following Saturday's assassination attempt, Trump entered the convention on Monday with a bandage over his ear

By Marin Scotten

News Fellow

Published July 17, 2024 11:37AM (EDT)

An attendee wears a paper "bandage" on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
An attendee wears a paper "bandage" on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Attendees of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee are sporting what some of them call “the newest fashion trend” in support of Donald Trump: ear bandages.

After Saturday’s assassination attempt, in which his ear was injured, Trump entered the RNC auditorium on Monday with a bandaged ear. The crowd erupted in cheers and chants of "fight."

Now, Republicans at the convention are also bandaging their ears in solidarity with the former president, The Daily Beast reported.

One woman styled the bandage with a cowboy hat and a red lanyard, while a man dressed in a Uncle Sam costume wore a fake bandage on his ear while performing “God Bless the U.S.A.” on the harmonica, according to a video posted on X. 

CBS News interviewed Arizona delegate Joe Neglia at the convention, who also sported a fake bandage that appeared to be a folded up envelope.

“This is the newest fashion trend. I’m getting this going. Everybody in the world is going to be wearing these pretty soon. It’s the latest thing. My wife calls me and tells me I dress like an engineer, but I’m setting new fashion ground here,” Neglia told CBS.

The Trump campaign has not officially announced what he was treated for following Saturday’s shooting, but Trump's doctor, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, said a bullet took off a bit of Trump’s ear in an area that “bleeds like crazy,” The New York Times reported.

“The dressing’s bulked up a bit because you need a bit of absorbent. You don’t want to be walking around with bloody gauze on his ear,” Jackson said.


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