Photographer’s fears over Trump’s ‘crazy’ campaign
A SCOTS photographer who watched Robert Kennedy gunned down in 1968 fears Donald Trump’s rhetoric could lead to more political assassinations.
Harry Benson, whose pictures of the dying Kennedy are among the most iconic of the last century, said the current Republican presidential candidate may have put lives at risk.
Mr Trump this week said ‘second amendment people’ could find a way to stop Hillary Clinton introducing tougher gun laws.
Mrs Clinton accused Mr Trump of a ‘casual inciting of violence’ and warned ‘words can have tremendous consequences’.
Mr Benson, 86, who has covered US presidential campaigns for more than 50 years, said he had never seen one as ‘crazy’ as Trump versus Clinton.
A retrospective of his work, including photographs of Robert and John Kennedy, opens today at the Scottish parliament.
He said: ‘I was friends with Bobby Kennedy and I followed him right through to his death.
‘You can also see pictures of his wife Ethel in the exhibition. That was someone I knew, and still know, but you’ve got to do your job.
‘I’m not there as a PR or part of their entourage. I’m there to record what I see and to inform.’
He added: ‘I’ve photographed Donald Trump for 40 years. I did ten pages of photos of Trump for Time magazine last week. He hasn’t changed.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything so crazy. There was a bit of decorum in the other elections but there is none in this. Trump saying “crooked Hillary” has turned off a lot of the public. What he might have done is get other people shot, Clinton supporters, people with a Clinton badge.’
The retrospective also includes photos of a young Hillary cosying up to husband Bill shortly before he received the Democrat nomination for president in 1992.
Mr Benson said: ‘I’ve followed Hillary over the years and clever people who know what they are talking about say she is very competent.’
The former Hamilton Advertiser photographer admitted to a fondness for Richard Nixon and the most senior of his infamous ‘President’s Men’.
He photographed former attorney general John Mitchell celebrating after being acquitted of obstructing the Watergate investi- gation in 1974 – and discussed their shared fondness for Harry Lauder.
He said: ‘I liked Nixon. It’s very hard to be critical of someone who allowed you to do your job, even if he did say he didn’t like my angle some days. John Mitchell was a funny guy. He loved Harry Lauder. I sang Keep Right On To The End of The Road to him after he got off. He went to jail later though.’
But Mr Benson offered faint praise to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post journalists who exposed the Watergate scandal and whose images also feature in the retrospective.
He said: ‘The journalists I worked with in Fleet Street were better. They were more competitive.’
Mr Benson also revealed a controversial choice for the person he would most like to photograph. ‘I would like to do Putin,’ he said. ‘We haven’t many interesting leaders.’
Harry Benson: Seeing America, the Scottish parliament, until December 3, free admission.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it’