The preliminary report on the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump reveals numerous errors and failures by the U.S. Secret Service, as detailed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily. Paul, who is part of the Homeland Security Committee that helped write the report, explained that it lists multiple shortcomings by the Secret Service, from preparation through to the incident itself.
I mean — it’s not just one error. It’s, you know, from the beginning to the end, from preparation through the day of to the minutes before, everything was an error. Everything was a mistake, and I think unforgivable in the sense that these errors did lead to the tragic death of one of Trump’s supporters,” he said, referencing the untimely passing of Corey Comperatore, the Pennsylvania firefighter, husband, and father who lost his life while protecting his family from the attack.
The senator noted that the first assassination attempt was an extremely close call on Trump’s life, followed by another attempt two months later. In this second instance, the would-be assassin spent 12 hours preparing his weapon for the attack. Paul emphasized that there is a concerning level of incompetence displayed by the Secret Service and stated that they will push for changes to be made.
Regarding the denied requests for additional security measures such as counter snipers, Sen. Paul shared that he has not yet seen any evidence suggesting anything other than gross negligence on the part of the Secret Service. While acknowledging that it is difficult to judge people’s intentions, the senator expressed his frustration with the ongoing denial of security requests and urged for a more thorough investigation into the matter.
Despite the numerous errors made by the Secret Service in this case, Sen. Paul remained grateful for the presence of counter snipers at one event where an assassination attempt took place. He argued that had they not been present, the outcome could have been much worse. The senator urged for improvements to be made, questioning whether some mistakes were purposeful and vowing to get to the bottom of this issue.