Following the shooting incident in which an armed man scaled a rooftop and attempted to kill former President Donald Trump, who was 450 feet away, concerns arose over how one of the country’s top security organizations could have let such a serious breach. Certain conservative influencers and delegates asserted that they were aware of the guilty party: women. Specifically, they felt that women were employed as a result of the U.S. Secret Service’s emphasis on DEI, or diversity, equality, and inclusion. Increasing diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, handicap, age, culture, class, religion, and opinion is the goal of many DEI programs. But the majority of the criticism following the shooting has been directed at the female Secret Service personnel present at Trump’s Pennsylvania event.
Women on the front lines
A day after the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left one man dead and injured along with Trump and two others, conservative political pundit Benny Johnson posted on X on July 14, saying,
“Absolute humiliation for this gaggle of female Secret Service Agents.”
“DEI Secret Service makes Presidents LESS Safe.”
Video footage from the incident that had ladies in Trump’s Secret Service detail at the forefront was quickly used by DEI detractors. In one widely shared video, Trump got inside an SUV and the Secret Service woman seemed like she was having trouble holstering her gun.” Shapiro’s video referenced a May 2023 CBS News report in which Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, expressed her desire for the service to employ more women.
Diversity in the crosshairs
The Secret Service and DEI were also attacked by Libs of TikTok, a conservative X account with a sizable fan base that frequently publishes anti-trans content. Sharing the same Cheatle piece from CBS News as well as the two popular rally video, Libs of TikTok said on July 14, “Secret Service Director a few months ago: We’re focusing on hiring more women to be more diverse.” “The DEI’s outcomes. DEI managed to kiII someone.” Elon Musk, Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., and TV personality Meghan McCain, the late Sen. John McCain’s daughter from Arizona, have all questioned the qualifications of female Secret Service personnel and the hiring procedures of the agency. Due to the attempted assassination, Cheatle is receiving demands from both parties in Congress to step down. She was summoned to resign at a congressional hearing on July 22 by ranking member Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and chair of the Oversight Committee Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. Cheatle withdrew on July 23. In recent years, conservatives have been quick to condemn DEI, with some attributing catastrophes like the collapse of the Baltimore bridge and the loss of a door on a Boeing passenger plane in midair to diversity programs. Matt Walsh, a Republican podcast broadcaster, wrote on X about the attempted assassination of Trump, stating that women should not be in the Secret Service. None of the very finest at this position who are meant to be the greatest are women.”
| Category | Detail |
| Incident | On July 13, 2024, there was an attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. |
| Date of Incident | The security lapse during the event was attributed by certain Republican politicians and right-wing media personalities to the Diversity Initiative (DEI) and female secret service operatives. |
| Main Figure Involved | The second woman to assume the role of Secret Service Director was chastised for her diversity drive. |
| Right-wing Narrative | The secret service defended their female operatives, saying the accusations were unfounded and called into question the competence and professionalism of its personnel. They underlined that the same requirements and standards must be met by all agents, regardless of gender. |
Female agents under fire
One adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, Gina Bennett, a former CIA analyst, called the criticism of the ladies in the rally footage “Monday morning quarterbacking.” “All I saw in the video were appropriate heads on a swivel,” she stated. “As if it were chaos,” she remarked, it is easy to assess what happened in the video recordings after the fact. “But, no one knew at that moment that there was only one assailant,” Bennett continued. “The next gunman could have been standing there, prepared to storm the presidential car. Being confident and calm is not the same as being chaotic. You’re performing your job. Most people’s first impression of the US The Secret Service is likely its group of “special agents” dressed in suits and sunglasses who guard the nation’s top officials, such as the president, past presidents, and prominent vice presidential and presidential contenders. However, the agency’s own function is far more wide. The Secret Service was founded in 1865 in response to the widespread practice of forging money during the American Civil War, and it continues to look into financial crimes to this day.
