Virginia Tech experts weigh in on former Pres. Donald Trump’s mugshot

BLACKSBURG, Va. – This is something we all witnessed for the first time: a mug shot of a sitting or former U.S. president.

Donald Trump is making history with his booking photo, but that’s just the start of its significance.

Former President Donald Trump surrendered to the Fulton County Jail in Georgia where they captured the first-ever presidential mug shot.

But this mug shot was different.

“I wasn’t surprised that there was a mug shot that was a little unusual, because I knew it had to be framing a political issue. He was going to frame a political issue with this shot,” Cayce Myers, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Virginia Tech said.

Experts said that celebrity mug shots have changed over the years.

Since the early 2000s, many who are indicted are seen with smiles.

This is to keep the mug shot looking like any other photo – except not with Trump.

“But if the mouth is a scowl, which it was with Trump’s shot it demonstrates that he’s taking this seriously but also has a certain amount of contempt for the process,” Myers said.

Chad Hankinson, a Political Science Lecturer at Virginia Tech said the process looked staged.

”I’m sure it was a very practiced and rehearsed look, right? By the way, I think was an incredibly orchestrated event on the part of the former president and his team,” Hankinson said. “It’s worked for him, it’s a mantra that he’s had since the beginning. It is that old adage that no press is bad press.”

Shortly after he was bailed out he posted to the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, with his mug shot and the words “Never surrender.”