Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been granted Secret Service protection following the attempted assassination of fo...
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been granted Secret Service protection following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Biden administration announced on Monday.
“In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a White House press briefing.
Kennedy, whose father U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and uncle President John F. Kennedy were both assassinated, had repeatedly been denied Secret Service protection in the preceding months despite polling in the double digits in some polls.
The Secret Service declares on its website that “major” presidential candidates and their running mates, as identified by the secretary of the Homeland Security Department with “broad discretion” of multiple factors, are “eligible” for protection from the Secret Service.
While Mayorkas previously said Secret Service protection for Kennedy was “not warranted” at the time, Kennedy shot back on social media, saying the decision was “another example of weaponization of government against” President Joe Biden’s “political opponents.”
Pressure has been mounting for that to change after a gunman opened fire at Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday — despite Secret Service being on the ground — and a bullet ripped through the former president’s right ear.
Earlier in the day on Monday, Trump himself posted to his Truth Social platform about how he believed Kennedy should get Secret Service protection, citing world events and the Kennedy family’s history.
“In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection — immediately,” Trump said. “Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!”
With a screenshot of Trump’s message, Kennedy responded with a post to X, saying, “It is a hopeful sign for our country when a political opponent calls for one’s protection. Maybe our country can unite after all.”
Kennedy initially ran this cycle as a Democrat but shifted to an independent campaign after criticizing his party for not holding primary debates, among other gripes, as it largely rallied around Biden’s re-election effort. Nicole Shanahan is Kennedy’s running mate.
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