Donald Trump, who was recently struck by a bullet at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, hit back at backlash and trolling being faced by a “brave” and “beautiful” Secret Service agent who “shielded” him during the horrific attack.
The GOP presidential candidate responded to the agent's misogynistic detractors online, saying she “wanted to take a bullet” for him, despite some people's comments that women weren't fit for such roles.
Speaking at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Saturday, Trump defended the agent and asserted, “There wasn't one that was slow, a woman that was on my right, a beautiful person.”
Hailing the Secret Service agent for shielding him with everything, the former President remarked: “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.”
Secret Service faces backlash after attack on Trump
Trump's remarks comes when prominent donors like Elon Musk, congressmen, and pundits have been leveling criticism at the Secret Service.
Taking to X, Tesla CEO Musk wrote: “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.”
{{/usCountry}}Taking to X, Tesla CEO Musk wrote: “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.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Daily Wire show host Matt Walsh wrote on X: “There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women.”
Secret Service agents aver ‘failure is not an option’
The Secret Service agency employs around 8,000 people, with approximately 24% being women and approximately 75% being men, as per the most recent agency statistics.
Former agent Melanie Burkholder told NBC that every candidate undergoes the same intense examination.
Several female agents asserted that the road to becoming a presidential protection agent is arduous and involves physical testing. They, however, insisted, “failure is not an option.”
“It goes back to: Can you do what is being asked of you? And if you can, there is no way they should be discriminating against women to say you can’t,” Burkholder stated.
The former agent further said she did better than some of her male peers during a training exercise where she had to climb a rope course swiftly and ring a bell.