Confidence in Secret Service plunges after Trump assassination attempt, poll finds
A new poll has revealed that most Americans don’t trust the Secret Service to keep presidential candidates safe from violence in the wake of the Trump rally shooting in Pennsylvania three weeks ago.
The survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only around 3 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from harm before this November’s election.
The poll of 1,143 adults, which was conducted in the wake of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation, also uncovered that Democrats and Republicans are split on what is to blame for the Trump assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler.
Six in 10 Democrats say the availability of guns bears a great deal of responsibility, compared to about one-third of independents and 15% of Republicans. About half of Republicans think the Secret Service has a great deal of responsibility, compared to around 4 in 10 Democrats and independents.
Overall, about 7 in 10 Americans think the Secret Service bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the assassination attempt, while half of Americans think local law enforcement in Pennsylvania had at least a moderate amount of responsibility, according to the poll.
The poll also revealed that Americans were most likely to say that political division in the U.S. had "a great deal" of responsibility for the assassination attempt.
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Only about one-third of Americans said they are extremely or very confident that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, will conduct a full and fair investigation of the Trump assassination attempt.
The Secret Service was first created as part of the Treasury Department to investigate the counterfeiting of U.S. currency during the Civil War. The agency began informally protecting presidents in 1894, according to the its records. Congress requested Secret Service protection of U.S. presidents after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901.
Protection was extended to the president's immediate family, presidents-elect and vice presidents after a White House police officer was shot and killed while protecting President Harry S. Truman in 1950. It was later extended to former presidents in 1965. After the 1968 assassination of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Congress authorized protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.