I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy’ - TRUMP blames BIDEN /HARRIS for not protecting him

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 – Donald Trump blames US President, Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for “not properly protecting” him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania where a gunman fired at the former president and killed an attendee.

Trump’s allies have floated conspiracy theories about an assassination plot orchestrated by the administration after allegations emerged that the Biden administration had rejected pleas from the former president for extra security.

On his Truth Social on Tuesday, July 23, Trump revived those claims by directly placing the blame on the president and Kamala Harris for the threat to his life.

“The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy,”. “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

His post comes after Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her role as director of the US Secret Service after widespread demands for her exit in the wake of the shooting.

She stepped down one day after she testified to a congressional committee about law enforcement failures at the rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, where one rally attendee was killed and at least two other people were critically injured.

“She never gave me proper protection, so I ended up having to take a bullet for democracy,” Trump told Fox News Digital after her resignation on Tuesday.

“Many requests were made by on-site Secret Service for more people, always with a turndown or no response,” he added. “I have the biggest crowds in history, and they should be treated accordingly.”

Trump’s claims are “absolutely false,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said hours after the shooting.

“In fact, we added protective resources and technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” he said.

But a week after the shooting, the Secret Service acknowledged that it had turned back some requests to increase security around the former president, raising fresh questions about the state of Trump’s security protections.

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee,” Gugliemi said on Saturday. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”

Trump, also said he did not receive any warning of a “problem” from Secret Service agents after some rallygoers said that they saw a gunman on a nearby roof and tried to warn law enforcement.

“No, nobody mentioned it, nobody said there was a problem,” he said in the interview. “They could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, five minutes, something.’ Nobody said. I think that was a mistake.”

He also appeared to float a conspiracy theory that the 20-year-old gunman who fired at him “had some encrypted phone numbers and to foreign countries.”

“You hear all different stories,” Trump told Fox News. “I would say probably he was a loner, but you don’t know that. You have to check out the phone numbers, you have to check out the phone.”