Former President Donald Trump called for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to receive Secret Service protection, joining a chorus of politicians who have made similar calls in the days since the assassination attempt on Trump.
Trump called for for Secret Service protection for independent presidential candidate Robert F. ... [+]
Trump said it is “imperative” Kennedy receives Secret Service protection in a Monday morning Truth Social post, citing “what is going on in the world today”—a likely reference to the assassination attempt made on Trump at a rally on Saturday.
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis previously posted on X, hours after the Trump shooting, that the federal government should “immediately provide secret service protection” for Kennedy.
Reps. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said they plan to introduce a bill that would enhance Secret Service protection for Biden, Trump and Kennedy.
Kennedy’s nephew, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, who has opposed his uncle’s candidacy, said on CNN Monday morning Kennedy “needs to have that protection as any candidate for office, at this point, is going to need.”
The Department of Homeland Security told Politico on Sunday it has received and is reviewing a request for Secret Service protection from Kennedy.
“Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do,” Trump said on Truth Social, referencing the 1968 assassination of Kennedy’s father, Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, who was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s uncle.
Trump survived an assassination attempt made at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, in which a bullet grazed his right ear. Blood was visible on Trump’s face as Secret Service agents quickly rushed him off stage and into a vehicle. Trump posted on Truth Social later that day he “heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.” The FBI later identified the suspected shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot and killed by Secret Service agents after Crooks fired shots at Trump from the roof of a nearby building.
Trump Assassination Attempt: Here’s What We Know (Forbes)
Politicians back RFK Jr.'s ask to get Secret Service protection (Politico)