The Secret Service failed spectacularly. It was epic, the scale of the failure.
Only by the grace of God did the likely next president of the United States not get his head blown off by an inexperienced kid who the police saw acting suspiciously, who climbed on the roof of a building in which snipers were stationed, in full view of people screaming he was there, and who got off multiple shots that killed a bystander and hit the former president.
Sometimes, failures happen despite everybody doing their job as well as could be expected; this was different from those times. No system is perfect; this system was amateur hour. Pathetic.
NEW: Secret Service director Kim Cheatle, good friend of Jill Biden and the new face of America's competency crisis, didn't post snipers on the roof where Trump was shot at because it was a sloped roof and she was afraid someone might slip and fall.
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 16, 2024
You can't make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/XEkonoRh2p
The problem, as far as we know, was not that the individual agents failed to do their jobs; perhaps some did, but a good system creates layers of overlap to make it resilient to the inevitable human foibles.
This was a systems failure, and systems are the responsibility of those at the top.
MAYORKAS: "I have 100% confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service. I have 100% confidence in the United States Secret Service." pic.twitter.com/wZl0TUH5nB
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 15, 2024
Well, the top cops are pure Biden: blaming others, taking no responsibility, and neither resigning nor getting fired. Generals can botch the withdrawal from Afghanistan without consequences. Pete Buttigieg can take leave during a worldwide crisis in the supply chain. Mayorkas can open the floodgates on the border and get praise.
No level of failure has consequences. This is Bidenworld, after all, where a president that nobody likes or thinks is competent can believe he is headed to a massive electoral victory because he is the most consequential president since FDR.
"The buck stops with me."
— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2024
In her first network interview since the assassination attempt on former Pres. Trump, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told ABC News' Pierre Thomas the Pennsylvania rally shooting was "unacceptable." https://t.co/91XRB8oYEa pic.twitter.com/JxtEeghhEi
Kimberly Cheatle--who heads the Secret Service because, apparently, she is friendly with the First Lady, says "the buck stops" with her--and then goes on to blame the local police, as if they were in charge of the former president's security.
Jill Biden picked the Secret Service head who just presided over the agency’s worst failure in over 40 years.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 15, 2024
Because of course she did. https://t.co/rjtktRwB98
Blaming the locals. Very on-brand. The person in charge was chosen by Jill Biden. Super on-brand, as she is the next Edith Wilson.
"In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter," Cheatle said. "And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building -- there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building."
She will not resign, of course, because it is not her fault. The buck stopping with her is her government paycheck, not responsibility for the protection of Donald Trump.
The Secret Service was informed of the suspicious nature of the shooter nearly a half hour before the first shots, yet nothing was done.
He pulled out a rangefinder(!) in front of police, who reported it to their superiors, yet nothing was done.
There were three snipers stationed inside the building the shooter used during Saturday's shooting of former President Donald Trump, a local law enforcement officer with direct knowledge of the incident tells CBS News.
The operations plan had them stationed inside the building looking out windows toward the Trump rally. The information about the three snipers being inside the building was first reported by BeaverCountian.com.
One of the snipers inside saw Thomas Matthew Crooks outside and looking up at the roof, observing the building and disappearing, a local law enforcement officer tells CBS News.
Crooks came back, sat down and looked at his phone. At that point, one of the snipers took a picture of him. Crooks took out a rangefinder and the sniper radioed to the command post. Crooks disappeared again and then came back a third time with a backpack. The snipers called in with information that he had a backpack and said he was walking towards the back of the building.
Officers believe that Crooks might have used an air conditioning unit to get on top of the roof.
By the time other officers came for backup, he had climbed on top of the building and was positioned above and behind the snipers inside the building, the officer said.
As I said, a SPECTACULAR failure.
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) July 16, 2024
But Mayorkas has full confidence in Cheatle. Unbelievable.
President Biden insists he has talked with the Director of the Secret Service but doesn't even know she is female.
"Is it acceptable that you have still not heard, at least publicly, from the Secret Service Director?"
— Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) July 16, 2024
BIDEN: "Oh, I've heard from him."
The Director of Secret Service is a woman. pic.twitter.com/pkO5VnkddN
Absolutely nothing Biden does or is in charge of is competently executed. $8 billion for EV chargers results in no EV chargers. Billions for internet access for rural areas? Nobody connected. Starlink is ready to go, but since Elon Musk owns it, it was cut out of the program. Politics.
Biden and his cronies are responsible for so much damage and take responsibility for none of it.
As I said, very on-brand.
