Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle "needs to be fired" after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett told Newsmax on Tuesday.
"This is just a complete failure on their part," the Tennessee Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "This is just a DEI initiative. The director said that she wanted 30% female [agents]. I don't care if [they are] 100% female. You can put purple unicorns in there, but they dropped the ball."
He added that the iconic photograph showing a bloodied Trump pumping his fist before being whisked away should never have happened.
"There shouldn't have been somebody who was a head shorter than him guarding him from the crowd," said Burchett, noting that Trump's guards at the Republican National Convention Monday night were all bigger than him.
But there is no question that Cheatle, who said Tuesday that she will not step down, will keep her job, the congressman said.
"They'll cover this thing up like they always do," said Burchett, calling Cheatle "inept."
"If you look at any, any assassinations in this country, it's always the lone gunman. And it's just a fluke. A lapse in security. And then years later, we find out that was not the case," he added.
Now, many questions must be answered, including how the shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania was able to get Trump in his line of sight during the Butler, Pennsylvania rally, said Burchett.
"Who are our snipers?" said Burchett. "Were they Secret Service? Were they Homeland security? Was there, just like in Afghanistan, rules of engagement? They got 13 brave Americans killed. Did he have to get permission to take that shot, or are they allowed to do it on their own volition? There's a lot of things we need to know."
The congressman said he called for the hearing on the matter to be held this week, rather than waiting.
"I said, you know, to hell with the convention," he said. "Let's get on with this thing, because any delay will feed the furor and the fever of a conspiracy."
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, who has been criticized for using the term "bull's-eye" concerning Trump, has said he made a mistake using the word, but said he was calling on voters to focus on the former president's policies and meant crosshairs.
"It's all the same thing," said Burchett. "That shows you just how mentally decrepit this president is."
Meanwhile, Burchett said he believes "there is a conspiracy" behind the attack on Trump, "because there is no other explanation for it."
"It's just too much," he said. "I've talked to a Marine Corps sniper, a SEAL sniper, a CIA operative, former operator, all just shortly after this occurred. They all said the same thing. This is... something's up. And we were touched by the hand of God because ... the Marine sniper said this was a punk shot. He said, 'I could have made that with a .22 rifle.' We got really lucky."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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