President Joe Biden on Monday ordered Secret Service protection for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the assassination attempt on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, against Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump.
“In light of the events of this weekend, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide security for Robert Kennedy Jr.,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Announced During a press conference at the White House.
Before the assassination attempt on Trump, the Department of Homeland Security had reportedly denied Kennedy’s requests for Secret Service protection six times, and the Kennedy campaign had spent millions of dollars on private security, campaign staff said. Said National Review. Kennedy requested protection again in early June, the anniversary of his father’s assassination, Axios reported. report.
Biden’s decision came just hours after Trump’s. Requested In a post on Truth Social on Monday, he said the Secret Service was providing security for Kennedy.
“In light of what is currently happening in the world, I believe it is urgent that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection immediately. Given the history of the Kennedy family, this is clearly the right thing to do!” the former president wrote.
Both Kennedy’s father and uncle were assassinated: Kennedy’s father, Robert Kennedy, was shot on June 5, 1968, after winning California’s Democratic primary and died the next day, and Kennedy’s uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Leading Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at stripping President Trump of Secret Service protection.
They did so at the same time that Joe Biden called Trump a “dictator” and Nancy Pelosi said he “must be stopped.” pic.twitter.com/x0L5Lq93bz
— Alex Pfeiffer (@__Pfeiffer) July 13, 2024
On Sunday, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers Said According to Axios, they planned to introduce legislation to increase Secret Service protection for Biden, Trump and Kennedy.
In April, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) introduced a bill that would strip Trump of Secret Service protection if he was convicted.
