1 month ago
7
Most
Americans
have lost confidence in the
Secret Service
's ability to protect presidential candidates, following last month's
assassination attempt
on former President
Donald Trump
. This revelation comes from a recent
poll
by the Associated Press-NORC Center for public affairs research.
According to the poll, only about 3 in 10 Americans feel extremely or very confident in the secret service’s capability to shield presidential candidates from violence in the lead-up to the election.
Furthermore, approximately 7 in 10 respondents believe that the agency bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the recent attempt on Trump’s life.
The Secret Service, a longstanding guardian of presidents, is under intense scrutiny after a gunman managed to get within 150 yards of Trump, firing multiple shots from an AR-style rifle. Trump sustained an ear injury, narrowly escaping death by mere millimetres.
The poll followed the resignation of former director Kimberly Cheatle, who faced severe questioning during a congressional hearing broadcast live last week. Cheatle’s evasive responses further fuelled public discontent. Ronald Rowe, the new acting director, expressed his dismay over the July 13 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, stating he was “ashamed” that the rooftop used by the shooter had not been secured.
Americans are attributing the assassination attempt to several factors, with political division in the US being the most cited reason. Half of the surveyed adults believe that political division holds “a great deal” of responsibility. Around 4 in 10 place significant blame on the secret service, while a similar proportion holds the widespread availability of
guns
largely accountable.
Partisan differences emerge starkly in the poll results. Democrats are more likely to blame the availability of guns, with six in 10 supporting this view, compared to about one-third of independents and 15% of Republicans. On the other hand, Republicans are more inclined to criticise the secret service, with roughly half attributing significant responsibility to the agency, as opposed to about 4 in 10 Democrats and independents.
Roger Berg, a 70-year-old farmer from Keota, Iowa, who intends to vote for Trump, expressed frustration over Republicans blaming President
Joe Biden
for issues beyond his control. Biden withdrew from the re-election race eight days after the shooting, endorsing vice president
Kamala Harris
, who is now the likely Democratic nominee. “The people that are making everything about politics, I wish they would just quit,” Berg remarked. “They pin it all on Biden, and I don’t believe in that", he was quoted as saying.
Others, like George Velasco, a 65-year-old Navy veteran from Tucson, Arizona, believe that both the Secret Service and local law enforcement share the blame due to poor communication and inadequate planning. Velasco criticised the assumption that local police would automatically know how to secure such a high-profile event. “It was a very small area, a small town. How did they expect them to know how to prepare for something huge like that rally?” he questioned, as per AP.
The poll indicates that half of Americans think local law enforcement in Pennsylvania bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the assassination attempt, though only about 2 in 10 assign them “a great deal” of blame.
The secret service, initially created to combat currency counterfeiting during the Civil war, began protecting presidents informally in 1894. Congress mandated this protection following President William McKinley’s assassination in 1901. Over time, protection has extended to the president's immediate family, vice presidents, and former presidents. The assassination of senator Robert F Kennedy in 1968 led to the inclusion of major presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Confidence in the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the secret service, is similarly low. Only about one-third of Americans are extremely or very confident that the department will conduct a thorough and fair investigation into the assassination attempt, with about one-third somewhat confident and around 3 in 10 not very confident or not confident at all.
The AP-NORC poll, conducted from July 25-29, 2024, surveyed 1,143 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
English (US) · 