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The Secret Service said it was “appalled” by “disparaging” and “disgusting” attacks on women who serve as agents in response to the string of sexist comments from people online criticizing the agency’s failure to prevent the Trump rally shooting.
In the week after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennslyvania, killing one person and injuring three others including the former president, some notable right-wingers have accused women in the Secret Service of failing to do their job.
Matt Walsh and Jake Shields claimed women should not be permitted to protect the president, insinuating they are not as good at the job as men. Both included a photo or video of female agents protecting Trump the day of the shooting.
LibsOfTikTok directly attributed the death of the Trump rallygoer, Corey Comperatore, to “DEI” [diversity, equity and inclusion].
“It is an insult to the women of our agency to imply that they are unqualified based on gender. Such baseless assertions undermine the professionalism, dedication and expertise of our workforce,” the spokesperson for the Secret Service spokesperson told The Hill.
The spokesperson said that “as an elite law enforcement agency” all of its agents and officers are “highly trained and fully capable” of carrying out missions.
Approximately 24 percent of the Secret Service is comprised of women, according to the agency’s website. Women have been part of the agency for 50 years.
The Independent has asked the Secret Service for comment on the criticisms.
Questions have emerged concerning why the gunman was able to take a clear shot at Trump from the roof of a nearby building – something that is typically swept before a current or former president makes a public appearance at an event.
But amid rationale criticisms of the agency’s preparedness, sexism has managed to creep in.
Those comments have also been directed at the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who said the Secret Service is, “totally responsible” for dividing up responsibilities when designing and implementing a security plan.
“What happened is a terrible incident and should never happen,” Cheatle told CNN. “And we are obviously going to make sure that moving forward, we take whatever any lessons that come out of this and adjust accordingly.”
But some have blamed any potential failures on Cheatle’s gender – including Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett who accused the Biden administration of choosing Cheatle for the position because of “DEI” rather than for her expertise.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene similarly called Cheatle a “DEI hire” and called her to resign.
Cheatle is expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday about the agency’s plan before, during and after the shooting.
