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CV NEWS FEED // According to multiple sources, officials in the U.S. Secret Service suggested that former President Donald Trump no longer hold his signature massive outdoor rallies, a recommendation to which Trump’s team has reportedly agreed.
The recommendation came sometime after a 20-year-old would-be assassin opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, injuring the former president and two others and killing retired fire chief Corey Comperatore.
In the week and a half since, actions taken by the Secret Service before and during the assassination attempt have been widely scrutinized – and a consensus has emerged across the political spectrum that the shooting represented a massive failure on the part of the Secret Service.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday evening: “In the aftermath of the shooting, agents from the Secret Service communicated their concerns about large outdoor rallies going forward to Trump campaign advisers.”
NBC News indicated that according to two sources, the Trump campaign plans to abide by the recommendation and “stop holding outdoor rallies like the one where he was shot” in Butler.
The Washington Post noted that “[f]or upcoming events, Trump’s team is scouting indoor venues, such as basketball arenas and other large spaces where thousands of people can fit.”
Per a source close to the former president, Trump’s “campaign is not currently planning any large outdoor events,” The Washington Post added.
>> SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR RESIGNS <<
The New York Post elaborated that Trump’s “next two [campaign] events are slated to be held in a multipurpose arena in Charlotte, NC., and a hockey arena in St. Cloud, Minn.”
The Post pointed out that the new policy marks a drastic departure from Trump’s events prior to the assassination attempt:
Trump has held dozens of large outdoor rallies since launching his 2024 White House bid, and hundreds since his first presidential campaign in 2016, with airports, fairgrounds and parks frequently being utilized by the campaign to stage the events.
As of Wednesday, Trump has held one event since the July 13 attempt on his life: an indoor campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan that took place this past Saturday.
At the Michigan rally, Trump declared: “Last week I took a bullet for democracy.”
>> EX-DIRECTOR: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ‘SIGNIFICANT OPERATIONAL FAILURE’ OF SECRET SERVICE <<
Then-Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned from her position on Tuesday, stating that her agency “fell short on [the] mission” to “protect our nation’s leaders.”
The day before, Cheatle told a bipartisan group of lawmakers at a House Oversight Committee hearing that the shooting was “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” and she takes “full responsibility for any security lapse.”
Multiple observers took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to the Secret Service’s recommendation that Trump avoid outdoor rallies.
“Revolting,” wrote The Washington Free Beacon’s Joe Gabriel Simonson.
The X account for Not the Bee, the news sister-site of satirical The Babylon Bee, wrote:
The Secret Service is encouraging Trump not to hold large outdoor rallies. This is a stunning admission that they can’t keep him secure and a further attempt to inhibit his campaign effort. Does Kamala have restrictions on what she can say, or how big of crowd she can say it to?
Finally, one X user implied that the recommendation shows the incompetence or unwillingness of the Secret Service to perform their duties.
He wrote: “Translation: We can’t do our assigned job. Talk to the hand.”
