Weeks after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that left one protester dead, a majority of Americans rate the Secret Service’s performance as “average” or “unsatisfactory.”
investigation, photograph Between July 27 and 30, 2024, 1,610 U.S. adults were asked, “How would you rate the work of the Secret Service?”
The majority of respondents, 53%, rated the Secret Service’s current performance as “fair” or “poor,” with 31% rating it “poor” and 22% rating it “fair.”
Only 8 percent described the Secret Service’s job as “excellent,” while 26 percent described it as “good.” Overall, 73 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents and 37 percent of Democrats rate the Secret Service’s job as “average” or “poor.”
The survey also asked, “How confident are you that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm?”
Strikingly, more than a quarter, 27 percent, said they were “not at all confident” about whether the Secret Service could protect presidential candidates from harm, while 35 percent said they were “somewhat” confident. An additional 21 percent said they were “very” confident, while only 8 percent said they were “extremely” confident. Notably, a majority of Republicans, 41 percent, say they are “not at all confident” about whether the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm. Thirty percent of independents and 11 percent of Democrats share the same view.
Questions continue to mount about what actually happened in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. The U.S. Secret Service has been unable to answer some basic questions, and the backlash ultimately led to the resignation of former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who argued that the roof on which shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was found did not have a roof due to safety concerns due to its slope.
RELATED — “Was he guessing or lying?” Jim Jordan slams Secret Service director
But Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe also was unable to adequately answer questions, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that the Secret Service was unaware of Crooks’ presence until it heard gunshots.
“Based on what I know now, neither the Secret Service anti-sniper team nor the former president’s security detail knew that there was a man with a gun on the roof of the AGR building,” Rowe told lawmakers.
After that testimony, a new angle taken minutes before the shooting clearly showed a figure running across the roof from where Crooks had fired his shot. The video was taken by James Copenhaver, one of the victims injured at the rally, and was taken approximately three minutes before the shooting. This angle cast doubt on Rowe’s claim that the Secret Service sniper did not see Crooks before opening fire, as a figure was clearly visible on the roof in a video taken by a protester from the ground.
BREAKING: Video taken by victim at Trump rally in Pennsylvania shows a person running on roof where Thomas Crooks shot Trump moments before he was shot in the face.
Wow.
The video, obtained by Fox News, was recorded by James Copenhaver, the man who was shot twice.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 31, 2024
Related — Defiant: Bloodied Trump pumps fist at crowd after assassination attempt
C-SPAN
