The public’s approval of the U.S. Secret Service has plummeted as the agency navigates backlash over lapses in its protection of former President Donald Trump.
The Secret Service’s approval rating has hit a new low, mainly in the aftermath of the failed assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. In a poll published on Monday, Gallup found that the percentage of Americans giving the agency positive marks plummeted 23 points.
Roughly one-third of Americans, 32%, rate the agency “excellent” or “good,” while 25% rate it “only fair,” and 36% say the agency is “poor,” according to Gallup. Those numbers are the lowest the Secret Service has scored in the five times Gallup has measured Americans’ support for the agency over the past decade.
The poll was conducted between September 3 and 15 and was almost completed before another Trump assassination attempt was thwarted on September 15. Secret Service agents noticed a gun barrel extended from a bush just outside the fence of the Trump International Golf Club, where the former president was playing golf, and fired upon a man in the bush.
The suspected would-be assassin, 58-year-old Ryan Routh, reportedly fired no shots before fleeing the scene. He was later arrested and charged with two federal gun-related crimes.
Approval of the Secret Service has dropped among Democrats, Republicans, and independents, though trust in the agency among Republicans has fallen furthest of all.
“Positive ratings of the Secret Service have dropped precipitously since last year among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (by 26 points, to 20%) and Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (by 18 points, to 47%),” Gallup notes.
The agency has faced bipartisan backlash over its security of Trump’s Butler rally, where the attempted assassin snuck onto a nearby roof and took several shots at the former president, nicking Trump’s ear and killing one rallygoer. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle announced her resignation soon after the rally as Democrats and Republicans said she should step down.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recently accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of “stonewalling” attempts to investigate the Secret Service failures at the Butler rally. Secret Service is under DHS.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations within the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said DHS was “almost derelict in its duty” to respond to lawmaker requests for documents and information regarding the Butler rally.
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