Biden says Secret Service 'needs more help' after second Trump assassination attempt

By 
 September 16, 2024

President Joe Biden said Monday that the Secret Service "needs more help" after there was a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, this time at his golf resort in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

“One thing I want to make clear is: The Service needs more help. And I think Congress should respond to their need,” Biden said to reporters as he got in the car to go to Philadelphia.

“Thank God the president is OK,” he added, referring to Trump.

The Secret Service "may decide whether they need more personnel or not," Biden said.

Attempt thwarted

The Secret Service did manage to thwart the attack on Trump without anyone getting hurt this time.

An agent fired on suspect Ryan Routh as he allegedly lay in wait for Trump near the sixth hole of the golf course.

Trump was golfing on the fifth hole when shots were fired, and Routh fled the scene. He was later tracked down and arrested after a witness took a photo of his license plate and gave it to police.

Routh used the same political messaging on his social media sites as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris when he posted, "Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose."

Trump needs more protection

Biden has called for both Trump and Harris to get the same Secret Service protection as a sitting president in light of the two assassination attempts on Trump.

It's one of the few things he and Trump's allies probably agree on.

As the BBC pointed out, political violence is now becoming the norm in the U.S., so it stands to reason that top candidates should merit the highest levels of protection.

"Violence has no place in America," the queen of obvious Harris said after the second attempt on Trump.

If any violent actor is successful in taking out a presidential candidate, it will officially cement the U.S.'s descent into Banana Republic territory and have serious repercussions for the way elections are handled.

The political division has reached a zenith in the U.S., and it doesn't seem like anything short of an actual assassination will do anything to reverse it. At this point, it's doubtful that even that would work.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson