When the shots rang out last Saturday, at least two of the female agents around Trump ducked for cover, while the male security stood up. One female agent, the fat one, hid behind Trump. When I try to search for a picture of this, Google won’t present me with one. I had to go to X and then the image came up immediately:
Google seems to be suppressing damaging photos of female agent incompetence. If you put in “female agents ducking during Trump shooting” or similar searches, you won’t find any relevant image results in the first 100 pictures.
The New York Times and the Washington Post ran stories about right-wing complaints regarding Trump’s female agents, but none of the stories presented the damning examples of the ineptitude.
Right-wing influencers use Trump assassination attempt to attack DEI
Diversity and inclusion efforts have become a popular target for conservatives online.
Within hours of the shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania, right-wing media pundits and conservative influencers coalesced around an unfounded narrative on social media: the reason Donald Trump was injured was because of female Secret Service agents and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The unsubstantiated accusation arose after photos and edited videos featuring female Secret Service agents spread online, along with allegations that the assassination attempt on Trump happened because the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, is a woman. Conservative media pundit Ann Coulter promoted a petition calling for the firing of Cheatle, citing the Secret Service chief’s goal of increasing the number of female agents to 30 percent.
“Absolute humiliation for this gaggle of female Secret Service Agents,” right-wing content creator Benny Johnson captioned one video on X, writing lower down in the post that “DEI Secret Service make Presidents LESS Safe.” The post was viewed nearly 9 million times.
I don’t think anyone on the right was claiming that Trump was injured because of female Secret Service agents. They noted that their work around Trump after the shooting looked shoddy. There is no good security reason for the fat agent to hide behind Trump.
Trump does not want obese agents. A typical liberal talking point is that Trump chooses his security detail. I don’t think so. According to the book, Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service:
Trump… remained obsessed with getting overweight agents removed from their posts when he saw them at the White House or working near him on presidential events. “I want these fat guys off my detail,” Trump told advisers, who felt the president might be confusing officers with agents. “How are they going to protect me and my family if they can’t run down the street?”
Why do the female @SecretService agents keep getting photographed … ducking?
Their entire job is to be the wall. To stand when no one else will. To make an alternate target so the protectee is less vulnerable.
This consistency is outrageous pic.twitter.com/5fNktoU7bA
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) July 15, 2024
A clear difference.
You didn’t see agents fumbling to holster their damn weapons and fiddling with their shades in the Reagan photo. pic.twitter.com/QnQBiXvgxs— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 14, 2024
After Trump Assassination Attempt, Right Points Finger at Female Agents
The rush by conservatives to pin blame for the shooting on women in the protective detail reflects a broader opposition among Republicans to diversity efforts in hiring.
In the hours after the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump, a sexist theory explaining how the Secret Service could have allowed such a grave security failure emerged in right-wing circles: It was the fault of incompetent women in his security detail.
“Look, I’m not sure about who the individuals are on the individual detail, Secret Service, but I can tell you under this Biden administration, the one thing I’ve seen is massive D.E.I. hires,” Representative Cory Mills of Florida said on Fox News, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
“And I can tell you when you primarily, when you primarily go after D-E-I,” Mr. Mills continued, “you end up with D-I-E.”
Benny Johnson, a right-wing commentator, was more blunt in a social media post viewed nearly 9 million times: “Absolute humiliation for this gaggle of female Secret Service Agents,” he wrote in a post that showed the chaotic aftermath of the shooting, adding: “DEI Secret Service make Presidents LESS Safe.”
From an overwhelmingly male phalanx of agents guarding Mr. Trump that day, these critics pointed out a trio — visibly shorter than their peers and with their hair pulled back in a bun, a ponytail and with hairpins, respectively, as they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the former president — for criticism. Video of their movements, including a moment in which one visibly struggled to holster a weapon, has fueled an outcry among conservatives who have pinned the agency’s failings on its women, suggesting they were only hired to diversify the predominantly male organization.
