Donald Trump has leapt to the defence of a "brave" female Secret Service agent who "shielded" him during an assassination attempt, after she faced online criticism. The ex-president hit back at those who suggested women were not fit for such roles, praising the agent who he said "wanted to take a bullet" for him. Trump, who survived the assassination attempt after being rushed off stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, defended the agent at a rally in St Cloud, Minnesota on Saturday.
"There wasn't one that was slow, a woman that was on my right, a beautiful person,' he said. "She was shielding me with everything she could and she got criticised by the fake news because she wasn't tall enough..
She was so brave, she was shielding me with everything, she wanted to take a bullet. " The 78-year-old decided to address the criticism which has been coming the Secret Service's way from pundits, lawmakers and high profile donors including Elon Musk.The billionaire wrote on X: "Having a small person as body cover for a large man is like an undersized Speedo at the beach doesn't cover the subject.
Could be a man or a woman, to be clear, just needs to be large enough to do the job. " 'There should not be any women in the Secret Service,' Daily Wire show host Matt Walsh also posted on X. The director of the Secret Service stepped down on Tuesday following the botched response to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump , a failure that sparked outrage over the breach of its duty to safeguard current and former presidents.
Kimberly Cheatle, who took up the role of Secret Service director in August 2022, succumbed to mounting demands for her resignation alongside ongoing probes into how an assailant managed to pose a direct threat to the GOP presidential hopeful during an open-air rally in Pennsylvania.", I take full responsibility for the security lapse," Cheatle conceded in staff correspondence seized by The Associated Press. "In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.
"The upheaval around Cheatle's departure came just one day after she endured a severe grilling from a congressional committee, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers chastising her for the dire lapses in protection. Despite describing the assault on Trump as the "most significant operational failure" for the Secret Service in several decades, Cheatle drew ire from members of Congress for dodging detailed questions regarding the ongoing investigation..
