A new poll finds that most Americans don’t trust the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates from violence, following the mass shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania three weeks ago.
Only about 3 in 10 Americans have extremely or very confidence that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm ahead of the November election, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Policy Research.
The poll of 1,143 adults, conducted following the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, also found that Democrats and Republicans are divided on who should be held responsible for the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler.
Six in 10 Democrats say the availability of guns is largely to blame, compared with about a third of independents and 15% of Republicans. About half of Republicans think the Secret Service is largely to blame, compared with about four in 10 Democrats and independents.
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Former President Trump is seen raising his fist after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Overall, about seven in 10 Americans believe the Secret Service bears at least some responsibility for the assassination attempt, while half of Americans believe local police in Pennsylvania bear at least some responsibility, according to the poll.
The poll also found that Americans were most likely to believe that the assassination attempt was “largely” to blame for the political divisions in the United States.
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Kimberly Cheatle, director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned this month after testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the attempted assassination of former President Trump. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)
Only about a third of Americans say they are extremely or very confident that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, will conduct a full and fair investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump.
The Secret Service was first established as part of the Treasury Department to investigate counterfeit U.S. currency during the Civil War. Records show the agency informally began providing protection to the president in 1894. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress called for the Secret Service to provide protection for the president of the United States.
Suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks was photographed crawling across a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Trump, and polls show Democrats and Republicans are split on who should be held responsible for the shooting. (DJ Laughery. Insert image: via Fox News Digital)
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After a White House police officer was shot and killed while guarding President Harry S. Truman in 1950, protection was extended to the immediate family of the president, the president-elect, and the vice president, and then to former presidents in 1965. After the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, Congress authorized protection for the leading candidates for president and vice president.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
