Donald Trump just took a bullet for this country. Now he’s going one step further.
And Trump made an unforeseen announcement that completely shakes up the 2024 race.
Former President Donald Trump demanded on Monday that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection, asserting it was the “right thing to do.”
“In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection — immediately,” the 78-year-old former president wrote on Truth Social.
“Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!” he added.
Trump’s call for action comes just days after he himself was bloodied by a sniper’s bullet that grazed his ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The assailant, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, k*lled one rally-goer and critically wounded two others before being taken down by authorities.
Kennedy Jr., whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s, has repeatedly requested Secret Service protection since launching his White House bid—first as a Democrat and now as an independent — but the Biden administration had denied his requests.
A “protective intelligence assessment” conducted by the Secret Service, and obtained by Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group, last September indicated that Kennedy Jr. was at an elevated “risk for adverse attention” yet still denied him protective security.
The Secret Service is authorized to protect major presidential and vice-presidential candidates, identified as such by the Secretary of Homeland Security, within 120 days of a presidential election.
Following the shooting at Trump’s rally, calls intensified for Kennedy Jr. to receive Secret Service protection.
Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) announced Sunday that they plan to introduce bipartisan legislation to provide “enhanced Secret Service protection” to Kennedy Jr., Trump, and President Biden.
“Anything less would be a disservice to our democracy,” they stated.
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has also urged Biden to grant Kennedy Jr.’s request for protection.
“I encourage [Biden] to immediately provide secret service protection for [Kennedy Jr.],” Polis wrote on X Saturday.
Kennedy Jr.’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, and his father, then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, was fatally shot in 1968.
Update:
It looks like the pressure has finally worked.
Following the murder attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Biden has dropped months of resistance and decided to provide independent presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with Secret Service security.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed the decision during the usual White House press conference on Monday, following Trump’s graze with a bullet at a Saturday rally.
“In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr,” Mr. Mayorkas said.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
