Tipsheet

There Are Now Bipartisan Calls to Increase Security for Trump

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 16, 2024 10:30 AM

In the wake of Sunday’s attempted assassination of former President Trump, the second time in two months, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are calling for increased security for the GOP presidential nominee. 

“Thank God for the quick-acting US Secret Service Agents today stopping another would-be assassin targeting President Trump,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY). “I call on President Biden to issue President Trump the same security levels that would be issued to a sitting President of the United States. Enough is Enough!” 

That message was echoed by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

“The Secret Service must come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the protective perimeter, & lets allocate it in a bipartisan vote the same day,” he said on X.

The calls come after a leftist gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, was able to get within 500 yards of the former president while he was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw explained Sunday that the course is “surrounded by shrubbery” making anyone along the perimeter “pretty much out of sight.”

He also acknowledged why such a potential assassin was able to get even that close to the Republican presidential nominee. 

“At this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president," Bradshaw said. 

The potential assassination was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle protruding from the fence and immediately opened fire. Routh fled the scene in a vehicle but was later apprehended by Florida law enforcement and taken into custody.