Staff Reports
Sen. Ted Cruz is calling for the immediate resignations of the Secret Service’s head honchos and the Department of Homeland Security boss after a botched assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Texas senator, known for his straightforward style, echoed the sentiments of tech titan Elon Musk, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to call for the resignations following the frightening incident. A Trump rally attendee claimed he informed authorities about a shooter perched on a roof, but his warnings were allegedly ignored while the target, Trump, stood there for several minutes, a sitting duck.
The head of Secret Service should resign.
So should the head of DHS. https://t.co/zKB2Fdq0Jh
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 15, 2024
Cruz, never one to mince words, took to social media, agreeing with Musk’s standpoint that both the head of the Secret Service and DHS need to step down. Considering the gravity of the situation and apparent lapses in protocol, his call for heads to roll is hardly surprising.
The keystone cops act from the Secret Service is now under intense scrutiny. The agency issued a shrugging response that the shooter was beyond their security perimeter and in the hands of local law enforcement. Clearly, when it comes to protecting a former president, such lax explanations don’t cut the mustard.
The Secret Service spokesman openly admitted that local police handled significant parts of the security effort, with two out of four countersniper teams comprising local Butler authorities. One might wonder what the point of having a specialized agency is if they’re just going to outsource their primary duties.
Congress isn’t taking this lightly either. Rep. Mark Green has demanded DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas cough up all documentation related to the botched security plan. Meanwhile, Rep. Ruben Gallego wants to know whether proper threat assessments were conducted and if the authorities were alerted about the risk. In other words, who dropped the ball? The American people, especially conservative Americans, await answers and accountability.
