OPINION:
Failure is not an option for the Secret Service. The agency safeguards our constitutional republic against madmen and violent agitators who would drag the nation into factional chaos. Last Saturday, an attempted assassination nearly succeeded.
The only reason former President Donald Trump is in Wisconsin to accept his party’s presidential nomination this week is the providential tilt of his head that prevented the assassin’s bullet from reaching its mark.
Mr. Trump was in the bull’s-eye when the trigger was pulled, but in the fraction of a second it took for the supersonic projectile to reach its mark, the target moved. An innocent rally attendee was killed and two others were gravely wounded, but Mr. Trump had cheated death.
None of this should have happened. The sniper’s rooftop position was an obvious vulnerability. Dozens in the crowd frantically pointed out the man with a gun on the roof to authorities well before the shots were fired. For reasons likely to be revealed in the days ahead, the former president was left on stage while a disturbed young man brought his weapon to bear.
It was different in 2016. At a campaign event, Mr. Trump was swiftly whisked away the moment a suspected threat was detected. The incident turned out to be a misunderstanding, but the Secret Service had done its job. Not so in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Kimberly Cheatle took over as Secret Service director in 2022 and decided to set quotas for recruiting and promoting staff based not on their ability, but on their sex and the color of their skin. The folly of this invidious form of discrimination was on display for the world to see on Saturday.
In a protection detail, race couldn’t be less relevant, but size does matter. When a sniper is shooting at the protected person’s head, a bodyguard must be large enough to provide cover and strong enough to carry the VIP to safety alone.
Several agents who didn’t measure up were assigned to the inner detail of Mr. Trump, who stands over 6 feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds. For whatever reason, they also appear to have had a few gaps in their training. Video shows one agent unable to figure out how to holster her weapon, while another fiddled with her sunglasses.
Perhaps too much time was expended on instruction of a different kind. The agency’s annual report showcases its “Workforce training on unconscious bias, with strategies to make more inclusive decisions and create belonging by increasing empathy and understanding of one another.”
Not much care was shown toward Mr. Trump’s security needs. Perhaps that’s because Ms. Cheatle’s boss paints the former president as the real threat. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” President Biden said.
Ten years ago, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned after a man jumped over the White House fence, ran inside and made it all the way into the East Room hoping to have a chat with then-President Barack Obama, who was not present.
That mission failure hardly compares to last Saturday’s debacle. Protection of presidents, candidates and foreign dignitaries is a job too important to be left in the hands of someone with goals other than doing whatever it takes to accomplish the mission — even if that means hurting someone’s feelings.
The nation deserves better leadership.
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