A majority of Americans rate the way the Secret Service is doing its job as either “fair” or “poor” weeks after a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that resulted in the death of one rally attendee.
The survey, taken July 27-30, 2024, among 1,610 U.S. adult citizens, asked, “How would you rate the job being done by the Secret Service?”
Most, 53 percent, rate the Secret Service’s current job as “fair” or “poor.” Of those, 31 percent rate it “poor,” and 22 percent say “fair.”
Only eight percent say the Secret Service has done an “excellent” job, and 26 percent say “good.” Across the board, 73 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents, and 37 percent of Democrats rate the job of the Secret Service as either “fair” or “poor.”
The survey also asked, “How confident are you that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm?”
Stunningly, over a quarter, 27 percent, are “not at all confident” that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm, while 35 percent are “somewhat” confident. Another 21 percent are “very” confident, but only eight percent are “extremely” confident. Notably, a plurality of Republicans, 41 percent, are “not at all confident” that the Secret Service can keep presidential candidates from harm. Thirty percent of independents and 11 percent of Democrats share that sentiment.
Questions continue to mount over what, exactly, happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The U.S. Secret Service has been unable to answer several basic questions, and the backlash ultimately led to now-former Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle — who once asserted that the roof the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was on was not covered due to safety concerns over its slope — stepping down.
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However, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe has failed to adequately answer questions, as well, testifying to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that the Secret Service was unaware of Crooks until it heard gunshots.
“Based on what I know right now, neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams nor members of the former president’s security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm,” Rowe told lawmakers.
After that testimony, a new angle, taken moments before the shooting, showed an individual clearly scurrying across the roof from where Crooks took his shots. The video was taken by James Copenhaver, one of the victims injured at the rally. It was taken about three minutes before the shooting. The angle calls into question Rowe’s claim that Secret Service snipers were unaware of Crooks before the gunshots, as an individual could clearly be seen on the roof from an attendee’s video from the ground.
BREAKING: Video filmed by a Trump PA rally victim shows a person running on top of the roof where Thomas Crooks shot from just moments before Trump was shot in the face.
Holy sh*t.
The video was obtained by Fox News and filmed by James Copenhaver, who was shot twice.
The… pic.twitter.com/2HGOeBsMvi
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 31, 2024
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