The Secret Service has been taking it on the chin as of late, and another report is not going to help.
Reports surfaced that an agent on Trump's detail left her post during Trump's North Carolina rally to breastfeed.
Talking Points…
- Trump nearly assassinated due to Secret Service shortcomings
- New Secret Service failings
- Analysis
The mistakes during the rally where a lunatic tried to kill Trump were many. It started with the fact the shooter came into the event with a rangefinder, which set off metal detectors, but he was permitted to continue inside. Even after he was spotted taking readings, agents permitted him to remain inside the rally.
It gets much worse from there. The shooter was spotted on a roof with a weapon, and rather than go up on the roof to take the shooter out, a local officer was lifted onto the roof without his weapon drawn and fell backward when the shooter turned and raised his weapon at him, which brings us to the shooting itself.
At this point, Trump should have been removed from the stage, but they allowed the rally to continue, with the shooter getting multiple shots, killing a civilian, wounding two others, and wounding Trump. This led to one of the worst cover and transport moves I have ever seen executed. Trump was not only able to push through agents for that iconic picture, but one agent bent over to pick up Trump's hat, leaving his upper torso and head exposed, and for most of the transport to the car, Trump's head was exposed. If there had been a second shooter, I have no doubt Trump would have been shot dead.
Last weekend, Kamala Harris had a campaign event at which Secret Service agents reportedly broke into a local small business without the owner's permission to use the bathroom. They then left the business open and taped over the surveillance camera. The Secret Service initially denied the incident, but the business owner stated that the local agent in charge eventually contacted her to apologize.
That brings us to yet another Trump campaign event, where a female agent reportedly left her post to breastfeed. The Secret Service, when asked about the alleged incident, responded:
"All employees of the U.S. Secret Service are held to the highest standards. While there was no impact to the North Carolina event, the specifics of this incident are being examined. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further."
RealClearPolitics correspondent Susan Crabtree was the first to break the story, reporting:
"The site agent went to do one final sweep of the walking route and found the agent breast-feeding her child in a room that is supposed to be set aside for important Secret Service official work, i.e. a potential emergency related to the president."
Agents are not supposed to have family members at these events, let alone a toddler who needs to be breastfed. I can already see how this will be spun as an attack against women. That is far from the case, but the women who have been on Trump's details lately are clearly not the best and the brightest the agency has to offer. First and foremost, most of them were not tall enough to protect Trump, and one agent appeared to be hiding during the shooting of Trump.
This comes down to being able to do the job, and that means the best men and women for the task. It's about ability, not gender, yet former Director Kimberly Cheatle made it her first goal to increase the number of women in the agency, apparently without considering their abilities. All that aside, an agent who needs to breastfeed should be in the office, not the field, until she no longer needs to breastfeed. There are surely other duties to which she can be assigned that do not entail the protection of a former president and presidential candidate where she has to be ready to return fire and protect someone at the drop of a hat.
