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AP Photo/Evan Vucci

First, let's get to a piece from Axios Monday on how a near-death experience changes a person. Would being shot by a would-be assassin get Donald Trump to "tone it down"? After all, we've been assured by many Democrats and pundits that Trump actually brought the assassination attempt on himself with his violent rhetoric. As violent as calling President Biden an existential threat that needs to be put in the bullseye? No, nothing like that.

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Axios has four suggestions of how Trump could turn down the temperature at the Republican National Convention. Here are two:

He could unify America. Imagine he gave a speech featuring something he rarely shows: humility. Imagine him telling the nation that he has been too rough, too loose, too combative with his language — and now realizes words can have consequences, and promises to tone it down and bring new voices into the White House if he wins.

He could show a different side of himself. In public, he's all fire and bombast. But his wife, Melania, talked in a statement yesterday of looking "beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue." People who know Trump well say he's a gracious host, inquisitive, loves music and social media. This is the kind of moment when people give leaders a second look, a second chance.

"He could unify America." Didn't Biden campaign on being the unity president, before getting elected and giving his famous "Red Speech" where he called half of America "ultra-MAGA extremists." So it's Trump who's been too combative with his language … have they looked at Biden's X feed at all?

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On Tuesday, Axios reported that photographers were worried that the photos of a triumphant Trump with his fist in the air could be overused and act as "free PR" for his campaign. Maybe they should cut back on using them.

Axios reports:

The big picture: With only a limited number of outlets attending the rally, many national newsrooms also had to rely on reporting, video and photography on the ground from a few major outlets.

Yes, but: The overuse of the same photos, eyewitness videos and reporting from the ground can also pose risks.

Multiple photographers worried privately in conversations with Axios' Aïda Amer that the viral images from the rally could turn into a kind of "photoganda," with the Trump campaign using them to further their agenda despite the photographers' intent of capturing a news event.

A photo editor and photographer from a major news outlet said the "amount that publications have been using Evan's photo is kind of free PR for Trump in a way, and it's dangerous for media organizations to keep sharing that photo despite how good it is."

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"It's dangerous for media organizations" to keep publishing that photo.

Trump survived an assassination attempt and acted like a boss. We all saw it.

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Maybe they just should be careful about using the photo too much — it's free PR for the Trump campaign, and we can't have that.

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