A majority of Americans doubt the Secret Service’s ability to keep presidential candidates safe after last month’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll.
During a July 13 campaign rally for Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, a gunman on a nearby rooftop about 150 yards away opened fire, injuring the former president and two attendees, as well as killing 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore.
The shooter, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.
The incident has raised questions about the Secret Service, the agency dedicated to protecting presidents, candidates and their families full-time since the assassination of President McKinley in 1901. Prior to that, the agency was tasked with investigating counterfeit currency as part of the Department of Treasury.
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Following the shooting, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle was questioned in a four-hour bipartisan hearing probing the incident. Many criticized her for evasive responses and failing to answer key questions. Shortly after, on July 23, she resigned from the top post.
Following her resignation, a poll by the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted between July 25 and July 29 of 1,143 adults found that 31 percent expressed extreme or strong confidence in the Secret Service’s ability to protect presidential candidates from violence before the election, while 40 percent are somewhat confident, and 28 percent are not very confident at all.
The poll also found that 72 percent of Americans believe the Secret Service holds some responsibility for the assassination attempt, with 43 percent attributing “a great deal” of blame on the agency.
Newsweek reached out to the Secret Service for comment via email on Friday.
Additionally, 78 percent surveyed cited political division in the country as a factor in the assassination attempt, with 50 percent attributing “a great deal” of blame. Republicans surveyed showed higher percentages in both categories. Meanwhile, 81 percent of Democrats primarily blamed the availability of guns, which garnered 58 percent overall.
Overall, half of the surveyed adults believe that the local Pennsylvania law enforcement had at least a moderate amount of responsibility in the July 13 shooting.
The poll, conducted with online and telephone interviews, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
The poll comes as the U.S. presidential election is rapidly changing following the exit of President Joe Biden and his endorsement Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to lead the Democratic ticket. If nominated as Democratic presidential nominee, Harris will go up against Republican nominee Trump in less than 100 days.