Eric Trump ‘pissed off’ for Secret Service agents in line of fire, demands answers
Eric Trump told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle needs to answer "really hard questions" after a would-be assassin nearly killed his father.
Still shaken by the shocking attempt made on his father's life, Eric Trump is demanding answers.
"The director of the Secret Service needs to be asked some really pointed, really hard questions, because that cannot happen again," Eric Trump told Fox News Digital. "Whether it's that local assets dropped the ball or an oversight, I don't know. They need to get to the bottom of it, because we're better than this as a country."
The Trump Organization executive, who first heard of the shooting while sitting on the couch with his wife and kids, questioned how shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to position himself so closely to his father.
"It's unthinkable," he said. "It can never, ever, ever happen again: somebody within 130 yards of the former president and likely the current president with a rifle."
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U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came under blistering criticism Tuesday after telling ABC News that law enforcement officers weren't stationed on top of the building where the shooter took up position because a "sloped roof" posed a safety risk to the agents. She said the assassination attempt was "unacceptable" but has refused to resign.
Eric Trump, who is an experienced marksman, said Crooks had a direct line of sight to his father and could have easily killed him.
"That's the easiest shot you could ever make," he said. "I'm a competitive shooter. I've done that my entire life. That's like Tiger Woods making a 3-inch putt, and it's unthinkable that could have happened, and it's by the grace of God that he's alive."
Trump, who is slated to speak before his father on Thursday at the Republican National Convention, said his ire is focused on the lack of perimeter security at the Pennsylvania event rather than the Secret Service personnel flanking the former president.
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"The people on that stage were remarkable," he said. "I know them personally, I know them as friends. They are amazing people, and they would have taken a bullet for him. What happened on the perimeter, that's not their fault."
Trump said agents on the dais are focused on crowd members rushing the stage or scanning for people in the immediate vicinity with weapons. Distant threats, Trump said, are not under their purview.
"I will say that the people on that stage, I'm infuriated for them as well," he said. "I mean, they could have all taken bullets. Every single one of those agents could have been dead as well. You had somebody 130 yards away, who was on an elevated position with a rifle. I'm pissed off for them as well."
If the assassination attempt had been successful, it would have rocked the country to its core, he added.
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"It would have been the greatest stain on America," he said. "There was divine intervention."
While he is thankful his father survived, Trump mourned the loss of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who died after being hit during Crooks' fusillade.
"Devastating, beyond devastating," he said. "There's a guy who loved Trump, whose life is lost. We’ve never, ever had a problem at one of the rallies. They are the safest places."
Having survived Saturday's assault, Trump said momentum has shifted dramatically in his father's direction and that his return to the White House is now an inevitability.
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"The mood is incredible," he said. "We are on the winning side of everything. You can just feel the pendulum has swung in such a large way. We're going to win this on Nov. 5. There's no question about that."
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Trump celebrated his father's quick return to public appearances so soon after the shooting, lauding his attendance at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
"I'm incredibly proud of him. He's the toughest person I've ever met in my life," he said. "He is a remarkable man, and I think the entire country saw that this week."