Staff Reports
The Secret Service has officially pulled the plug on its protection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he decided to hit the brakes on his campaign in battleground states and throw his lot in with former President Donald Trump. This mind-boggling move comes shortly after Kennedy made headlines by announcing he would remain on ballots in states where the only competition is a clean sweep for red and blue, effectively ensuring he won’t disrupt the established order in the primaries.
This reshuffling of priorities was seemingly triggered by President Biden’s order after an assassination attempt on Trump earlier this summer. Somehow, it took a threat to a former president for Kennedy’s entreaties for security to gain any traction. His team had repeatedly raised concerns about his safety, claiming there were no fewer than 34 chilling instances of threats against him. This begs the question: why did it take a desperate circumstance involving Trump for the Secret Service to suddenly recognize Kennedy’s value as a candidate worthy of protection? It’s almost as if they were operating on a different set of priorities, or perhaps just a lack of urgency.
Now that Kennedy has effectively exited the stage and handed his endorsement to Trump, the Secret Service has decided their job is done. In the eyes of the agency, backing out of the race means a candidate doesn’t need security anymore—even though technically, Kennedy’s name will still appear on ballots in states that aren’t tightly contested. This highlights the old adage that optics often trump reality in political safety decisions.
Meanwhile, the Secret Service itself is in hot water following the calamity surrounding the assassination attempt. A former director of the agency got tangled in the fallout and resigned soon thereafter, a shocking yet perhaps predictable resignation in circumstances that reek of mismanagement. Given the serious questions about communication failures during the attack, it’s clear that the Secret Service has not been the sharpest tool in the shed lately.
Secret Service Pulls RFK Jr.'s Security Detail in retaliation for the Trump Endorsement https://t.co/Sad2cvIqV3
— Rightwingmadman (@Rightwingmadman) August 26, 2024
As investigations—both congressional and private—continue to probe this significant lapse in security, one thing is certain: the Secret Service needs to reevaluate their approach not only to protecting candidates but to ensuring they do not treat political affiliations as a way to prioritize who deserves protection. In the world of politics, safety shouldn’t come down to popularity contests or party lines. When everyone is under threat, it should be clear that protection ought to be universal, regardless of whether or not a candidate holds sway in a particular election.
