‘We Have Taken Their Arrows’: Trump-Allied Senate Nominee Don Bolduc Celebrates Win With Prop Shield and Arrows

Ken MeyerSep 14th, 2022, 1:30 pm

New Hampshire GOP Senate nominee Don Bolduc decided to bring props out with him as he celebrated his triumph in the primary election.

Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who has embraced Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies, defeated centrist Chuck Morse in Tuesday’s New Hampshire GOP primary. The result means Bolduc will face Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan in the state’s general election, and the development signals the continued march of 2022 midterm Republican candidates who’ve cast doubt on the 2020 election’s legitimacy.

On Tuesday night, Bolduc brandished a shield pierced with arrows as he made celebratory remarks to his supporters.

“We have taken their arrows!” He said. “We have successfully protected ourselves! We are now going to rally around the circle: unity, freedom, liberty, and together, we’re gonna beat Maggie Hassan!”

Judging by the design and the size of the shield, the armor piece appears to be a children’s costume prop referencing the movie 300. Political observers weighed in on that, along with the performativeness of Bolduc’s victory lap:

. @Redistrict might be time to change the rating on this race to “dear God” https://t.co/Pi9MDQKvE0

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) September 14, 2022

I have so many questions about this shield.

Did an aide have to go out back and shoot arrows into it as it looked like he was going to win?

Or did the retired general prepare it beforehand?

Or did it come like that? https://t.co/ojsGFzmjVy

— Dan Merica (@merica) September 14, 2022

This makes Dukakis posing as a tank commander look like a masterstroke of political imagery. https://t.co/oQZoJnQnUH

— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 14, 2022