Former President Trump spoke to his supporters during a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, as federal investigators looked into whether shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks flew a drone over the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump on July 13
Trump pulls union member up on stage during rally, jokes that he ‘does not carry guns’
A United Auto Workers Union member greets former President Donald Trump during a rally. (Credit: Associated Press)
Former President Trump pulled a union worker that he recognized on stage during a campaign rally on Saturday.
Trump was speaking about electric cars when he suddenly recognized an audience member.
“Are you the same guy? Yes? No kidding,” Trump said. “Pretty good memory, right? Unlike somebody else that I happen to be running against.”
The Republican then encouraged the worker to get up on stage and joked around with him.
“He’s a serious union guy, a United Auto Workers [worker],” Trump said. “He does not carry guns. Come on up here, look at him. Look at the shape he’s in.”
“I’m glad to see this guy,” the union worker said energetically at the podium. “I told you, we’re gonna get 85 million of us out there to vote for him. So let’s go home from this rally and do our part.”
First Congressional Dem calls for Secret Service director to resign over Trump assassination attempt
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., is calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign following an assassination attempt against former President Trump at a campaign rally last weekend in Pennsylvania.
Boyle is the first Congressional Democrat to urge Cheatle to step down.
“I am calling on Director Cheatle to resign immediately following last weekend’s shooting of a Presidential candidate in Western Pennsylvania,” Boyle said in a statement on Saturday.
“The evidence coming to light has shown unacceptable operational failures,” he continued. “I have no confidence in the leadership of the United States Secret Service if Director Cheatle chooses to remain in her position.”
Senator points to ‘mistake’ Secret Service made in blame game over Trump rally shooting
Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, pushed back after the Secret Service blamed local law enforcement for not sweeping the roof where former President Trump’s shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was stationed.
Lankford, the lead Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee, discussed with Fox News Digital the details of the Secret Service and FBI official call with Senators on Wednesday.
The lawmaker said that officials leading the investigation into Trump’s assassination attempt tried to pass the blame by saying that local law enforcement was responsible for the “outer layer” where Crooks was stationed with an AR-15-style rifle.
“They talked about the layering – the Secret Service is the first layer, the second layer is federal law enforcement of multiple different agencies, and that third layer is local law enforcement.”
“We all know that as a structure of how things work on it. But then they try to say, hey, that was the outer layer. That’s really a local law enforcement issue,” he said.
Lankford said finger-pointing from the Secret Service was a “mistake,” since they are the head agency of responsibility for coordinating all law enforcement agencies.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Secret Service responds to report it repeatedly denied requests to Trump security detail in the past
The U.S. Secret Service recently responded to a Washington Post report that claimed the agency’s top officials “repeatedly” denied requests to former President Trump’s security detail.
The report comes exactly a week after former President Donald Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, while speaking at a rally, prior to his 2024 presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been observed by attendees before the shooting began.
The Post reported that, before the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, top Secret Service officials “repeatedly” denied requests for tighter security measures from Trump’s detail. An official granted the interview to the media outlet on the condition of anonymity.
According to the report, agents tasked with protecting Trump requested additional security resources in the past. These requests involved things such as magnetometers or a larger number of personnel to screen guests. Additional snipers had also reportedly been requested in the past.
Senior officials reportedly told the agents that the Secret Service lacked the resources to fulfill the requests. The Post reviewed multiple requests, but none of them pertained to the Butler rally.
On Saturday night, the Secret Service released a statement obtained by Fox News Digital explaining that the agency “has a vast, dynamic, and intricate mission.”
“Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel, and other challenging environments,” the statement read. “We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology, and specialized operational needs.”
The Secret Service also added that, even if a request is denied, the agency still tries to accommodate in some form to ensure the safety of whoever is being protected.
“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protected,” the statement added. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”
Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano, CB Cotton and David Spunt contributed to this report.