U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has let it be known that she intends to continue leading the organization even after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Cheatle said in an interview with ABC News that the shooting was “unacceptable” and was “something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Cheatle acknowledged responsibility for the failure to keep Trump, the GOP presidential candidate, safe on Saturday.
“The buck stops with me,” Cheatle told ABC. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Cheatle was in Milwaukee overseeing security for the Republican National Convention when the shooting occurred. Although she took responsibility, she didn’t hesitate to remind viewers that local law enforcement was also in the mix.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the USSS was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
When asked by ABC if she planned to remain as head of the Secret Service, Cheatle answered, “I do plan to stay on.”
Questions about the Secret Service’s hiring practices arose in the aftermath of the shooting as it appeared that the women guarding Trump struggled to maintain composure during the incident. One agent struggled with her sidearm, unable to find her holster. Another female agent was seen putting her sunglasses on with both hands while Trump was being escorted away. The female agents looked confused and uncertain during the chaos.
Cheatle has affirmed her commitment to DEI hiring practices, telling CBS News, “I’m very conscious, as I sit in this chair now, of making sure that we need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce, and particularly women.”
Cheatle says that her goal in hiring agents is that 30 percent will be female by 2030.
Unfortunately for DEI proponents, biological realities matter. A large male is better suited to a protection detail than a small woman is. You need look only to Saturday’s shooting for proof of this. After Trump got back on his feet, the woman guarding him was a full head shorter than him, leaving his head, which was just targeted, exposed.
Cheatle will have to explain this failure to Congress as early as next week as Representative James Comer (R-Ky.) and other Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have requested a “complete list of all law enforcement personnel, including Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and local law enforcement, with roles in protecting President Trump at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, including but not limited to the advance team; [a]ll audio and video recordings in Secret Service’s possession or custody related to President Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024; and [a]ny memorandum or notice issued by the Director to Secret Service personnel regarding the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt on President Trump.”
In addition, the Oversight Committee is requesting maps and aerial views of the event and communications between the Secret Service and local law enforcement and any surveillance data including drones cameras and listening devices used in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the day of the shooting.
Cheatle told ABC that Trump’s campaign had not requested any heightened security prior to the assassination attempt, but former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino, who is now a conservative political pundit, claims that is false.
“I want to repeat, and can absolutely confirm, the USSS Director Kim Cheatle has repeatedly turned down requests for a larger security footprint around President Trump. Despite knowing the threat level is catastrophic,” Bongino posted on X. “Resign tonight.”
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi refuted Bongino’s assertion.
“Theres [sic] an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” Guglielmi posted on X.
Whether Bongino or Guglielmi is correct will be known in time. What’s not in doubt is that woke DEI hiring practices are not the answer when it comes the Secret Service — or to anything else.
