A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service is pushing back on wave of criticism against the agency spurred on by speculation that underqualified agents who were only hired because of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are to blame for the assassination attempt on former President Donald trump last weekend.
The criticism has been prompted, in part, by viral images of female Secret Service agents cowering for safety and struggling to properly holster their firearms as male agents rushed to protect and evacuate former President Donald Trump after he was shot in the head.
Conservative commentators and Republican lawmakers have demanded answers from the Secret Service on how the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to — without disruption — climb up onto a roof about 120 yards away from the rally and open fire towards the former president as he spoke to a crowd of supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was one of several lawmakers to attack Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, writing on X on Tuesday that “The DEI hire Secret Service Director should RESIGN after Saturday’s catastrophic failure.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has called Cheatle “grossly incompetent,” and on Monday proposed a bill to prohibit federal funds from being used to pay the Secret Service director’s salary or expenses.
“Under Director Cheatle’s failed leadership, the United States Secret Service has prioritized woke DEI policies over the core responsibilities of the Secret Service, including protecting our nation’s leaders,” Rep. Boebert said in a statement introducing her bill.
[RELATED: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Subpoenaed to Testify Before House Oversight Committee…]
The Secret Service’s chief of communication, Anthony Guglielmi, told The Hill on Thursday that the lawmakers’ criticisms are “baseless assertions.”
Guglielmi said that the Secret Service is “appalled by the disparaging and disgusting comments against any of our personnel.”
“As an elite law enforcement agency, all of our agents and officers are highly trained and fully capable of performing our missions,” Guglielmi stated. “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.”
“We stand united against any attempt to discredit our personnel and their invaluable contributions to our mission,” he continued. “Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion ensures that we attract the best talent, fostering a robust and effective team that reflects the society we serve.”
In an interview with ABC News earlier this week, Cheatle acknowledged that the security failure at the Saturday rally ultimately rests with herself, but has refused to resign from her position.
“The buck stops with me,” Cheatle said. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Can somebody please square equity and diversity? They are two diametrically opposed notions, Nature dictates diversity, not narcissistic lefties. Equity is transient, like room temperature. Equity< mediocrity
Finally, tell us, while all this BS is going on, do YOU feel more included?
Hire based on merit and qualifications. F your gaslighting!
“As an elite law enforcement agency, all of our agents and officers are highly trained and fully capable of performing our missions,” Guglielmi stated. “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.”
Video proves otherwise…
We need to learn that DEI actually is an acronym for “DIDN’T EARN IT” as was clearly made public this past weekend.
I guess Mr Guglielmi didn’t watch the video to see just how incompetent his dei hired women actually were.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has called Cheatle “grossly incompetent,…”
She should have included this guys name as well in this comment. You know, just to make it more inclusive.
Once Cheatle has been fired, this gas lighter, Guglielmi , should also be fired. Their joint ignorance came within one inch, or less, of killing President Trump.
Jeff Childers in his daily newsletter “C&C News” today made this observation on the ponytail detail: “Noticeably absent from NBC’s article was a single reference to any DEI successes. You can be sure we’d know all about them, if any existed.”
Guglielmi can put the company line spin on it all he wants. We all saw with our own eyes the incompetence by certain members. Don’t let them doubt what you saw. It’s what evil does. We all question why was this allowed allowed to develop where shots were taken at a presidential candidate and former president that one party literally hates and has been trying everything imaginable to destroy.
If the shoe were on the other foot the Democrats would have immediately jumped into accusation mode on Trump and the Republicans. Any person that still has a mind knows this. This is what we are dealing with.
I am not implying that we turn up the dial on hate and division like the Democrats do and certainly would with such a show of incompetence toward their candidate. We need to keep in mind that these are the type of people that are currently ruling over us.
Sadly we are dealing with a sheer evil that is clever beyond reason and will do or say anything to progress with its agenda.
There is a difference between meeting the minimum qualifications to be employed and serving on an elite unit. President Trump, as the agency’s protectee with the highest level of threat, should have been supplied with the agency’s most elite personnel. That extends from the advance team to the protective diamond to the command post to the counter assault and counter surveillance teams. The woman who hid behind Trump followed her training to get behind cover before she remembered that personal protection requires you to BE the cover. The woman who could not holster clearly was not trained with holstering a pistol with a light attached or under stress. Both of those are mistakes non-elite agents make.
How about this: “It is an insult to the female members of our offensive line to suggest that they can’t fulfill the strenuous obligations of a career in the NFL….”
Cheatle and spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi are full of crapola. Listen to what that jerk said:
……”Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion ensures that we attract the best talent, fostering a robust and effective team that reflects the society we serve.”……
DEI only attracts those of the correct gender, ethnicity, skin color and and so on. Nowhere in there did I see any attention given to “ability”.
Guglielmi and Cheatle, you 2 are a worthless joke.. YOU work for us and not vice versa. We will criticize your terrible performance all that we wish to. If I had my way both of you would be working the back of a garbage truck. And I am not sure either of you could even do that job well especially after your disastrous performance in PA. You both are worthless democrat trash, the kind that is destroying America.
Within this linked story is a video that has gone “viral” showing the DEI hires in action that day. You certainly get what you pay for. This is what happens when you consider anything but ability.
https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-assassination-attempt-viral-video-triggers-criticism-over-female-secret-service-agents-response-740980
There is a video from “X” within the story that tells you all you need to know. DEI is crazy and horribly dangerous as anyone with a brain could see in this video. Several female agents in that video did not have one clue what to do. Sad commentary on our government today.
Looks like a squad that pulled Security at Krispy Kreme or Baskin Robbins . Seriously just how FAT can you be a still be an active field agent ? Bet they are all double/Triple Vaxed with the “Clot Shot ” as well