When Donald Trump arrived at the Republican National Convention on Monday, he was surrounded by an all-male security team.
Two days after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Trump triumphantly appeared at the opening night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee with a bandage over his right ear.
Many on social media noted that Trump was surrounded by an all-male Secret Service team, following discussions on social media that Trump’s female guards were too short to protect the 6-foot-3 candidate and that a female agent could be seen struggling to holster her firearm.
The chaotic scenes at the demonstration cast doubt on a controversial proposal by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to “diversify” the agency and have the male-dominated force absorb 30 percent female recruits by 2030.
Many on social media noted that former President Donald Trump was surrounded by an all-male security team on Monday following an assassination attempt on Saturday.
Donald Trump arrived at the Republican National Convention just two days after surviving an assassination attempt.
On Monday, Trump, flanked by a wall of Secret Service agents, did not address the room (his acceptance speech was scheduled for Thursday), but he smiled quietly and occasionally waved to the crowd.
Hours after the assassination attempt, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee subpoenaed Cheatle to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22.
Cheatle, who was appointed by US President Joe Biden in 2022, said on Monday that the agency would “fully participate” in the independent review of the incident.
The Secret Service has not yet commented on the involvement of female agents.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called it “ridiculous” to question the viability of female Secret Service agents.
“These men and women are risking their lives,” he told reporters on Monday.
“We shouldn’t rule that out, whether it’s a man or a woman.”
Some on social media argued that Trump’s female guards were too short to protect the 6-foot-3 candidate, and one female officer could be seen struggling to holster her firearm.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he is led off the stage.
The agency denied allegations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected a campaign request for extra security, saying it had recently “added resources and protective capabilities to the former president’s security team.”
Authorities have identified the protester who died Saturday as Corey Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania. He died while trying to shield his family from the hail of bullets, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Two people injured in the shooting were in stable condition Sunday. Pennsylvania State Police identified them as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect and said the shooting was being investigated as an attempted murder.
Trump supporters shared a video online of a female Secret Service agent appearing unable to holster her gun.
On Sunday, FBI officials said the shooter acted alone. The agency said it had not yet identified an ideology linked to the suspect or any indication of mental health issues or found threatening language on the suspect’s social media accounts.
Crooks was registered as a Republican, according to state voter records, and donated $15 to a Democratic political action committee when he was 17. At the time of the shooting, he was working as a dietary aide at a nursing home.