In the wake of yet another assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service is facing a host of questions. This is the second assassination attempt in two months against the Republican candidate for the White House, the American press as a whole notes. “This raises new questions about the agency’s broader ability to protect the candidates in its charge,” underlines The New York Times.
In a particularly tense presidential campaign, less than two months before the November 5 election, the former president and Republican candidate, who was on the course of his golf club at home in Florida, is “safe and sound after gunshots (fired) near him”, Steven Cheung, his campaign’s communications director, initially announced early in the afternoon. The teams of the 78-year-old billionaire and Republican tribune then sent text messages and messages to the press assuring: “Do not worry, I am safe and I am fine. No one was hit. Thank God”.
The Secret Service, the elite police force responsible for protecting presidents, former presidents and high-profile politicians, announced an investigation into the shooting, which took place shortly before 1800 GMT. Several of its agents “opened fire on an armed man” who was near the edge of Donald Trump’s golf course, and an AK-47 rifle with a scope was recovered, along with two backpacks and video recording equipment, authorities said at a news conference.
Concerns about the safety of candidates
If Donald Trump emerged “unscathed” from the “incident” of this Sunday, as the Washington Postthis one “rekindles concerns about [sa] security at the height of the campaign trail leading up to the Nov. 5 election.” Asked about the circumstances of the security breach, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw noted that Trump “is not the sitting president right now” and said security measures were not as stringent as they would be for a sitting president, reports PoliticoIn an email to campaign staff, Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles urged them to “remain vigilant” in “their daily comings and goings.”
While the Secret Service has struggled to figure out how to keep Trump safe as he campaigns across the country, hosting rallies that often draw thousands, less attention has been paid to protecting him when he’s not on the trail, often at his own clubs and properties, he said. ABC News. Furthermore, reports the Washington Post“The Secret Service has long considered golf courses to be particularly difficult to secure,” in part because they are “located near high-traffic areas.” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw noted during a briefing that, with Trump no longer in office, security protocols around the course had relaxed. “He’s not a sitting president. If he were, the entire golf course would be cordoned off. But since he’s not, his security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” he told reporters.
More resignations to come?
New York State Representative Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference and a close ally of the former president, said she was grateful that Trump was safe. “However, we must ask ourselves how an assassin was able to get close to President Trump again?” she asked in a statement.
On July 13, Donald Trump, president between 2017 and 2021, was injured in the ear by gunfire from a young American, shot dead by law enforcement, during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, one of the six or seven key states in the presidential election, in the northeast of the country. A spectator was killed, and two others were injured, as was the billionaire, who was shot in the ear, recalls the Wall Street Journal. The images of Donald Trump, blood running down his face and his fist raised, went around the world and disrupted the campaign for the November 5 election. This security fiasco led to the resignation of the head of the Secret Service and the placement on compulsory leave of at least five agents of this unit.
Leaders of the bipartisan task force investigating security failures in Pennsylvania said they were monitoring the situation and had requested a briefing from the Secret Service. “We are grateful that the former president was not injured, but we remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all its forms,” Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow said in a joint statement. President Joe Biden said in a statement that he was “relieved” that Trump was unharmed and said that “there is no place for political violence or any other violence in our country.” He added that he had instructed his staff “to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has all the resources, capabilities and safeguards necessary to ensure the continued safety of the former president.”