TALLAHASSEE, FL—After a bullet came within a "quarter of an inch" of killing former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt Friday evening, Governor Ron DeSantis has joined a chorus of congressional voices demanding an investigation into the Secret Service and its security protocols.
"Biden tells us to trust the bureaucracy to investigate the assassin's motive," DeSantis posted on his X account, claiming "D.C. bureaucrats" cannot be trusted. He compared the failed assassination to the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball game in 2017, an attack that he says only happened after the assailant found out Republicans were at the game and was chalked up to "suicide by cop" when investigated.
As for the fateful July 13th rally in rural Butler, Pennsylvania, glaring questions on apparent security lapses must be answered, DeSantis wrote: "The answer to the following question must be provided in short order: how did someone, armed with a rifle, get on top of a roof 150 yards away from the stage?"
The building, owned by a glass research company, is roughly 148 yards from the Butler Farm Show, the outdoor venue used by Trump. Circulated online footage shows the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, climbing onto the unsecured roof minutes before AR-style gunshots rang out, killing one attendee, injuring two others, and slicing through Trump's ear. The roof, NBC reported, was a vulnerability known to the Secret Service, which claimed that the area was under local law enforcement's jurisdiction.
The Butler County District Attorney denied this, insisting that the Secret Service—the ones he says were running the show—never ordered local law enforcement to cover the rooftop.
Regardless, the result remains the same: one person is dead, and if it wasn't for an off-script head tilt, a wind gust, poor shooting, or good old divine intervention—speculations vary—the former President almost was too. So...how did this happen?
That's the million-dollar question, Congress members acknowledged.
“Congress will do a full investigation of the tragedy yesterday to determine where there were lapses in security and anything else that the American people need to know and deserve to know,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Sunday on the “TODAY” show.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote in a letter that the shooting “raises grave concerns regarding the security measures — or lack thereof — that were taken to protect a former President of the United States and a Major Presidential Candidate.”
“I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” he continued. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), meanwhile, called on the Democratic-controlled Senate Homeland Security Committee to investigate the shooting before August 1 “to demand answers from the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service on how this happened and what steps are being taken to investigate this assassination attempt and make sure it never happens again.”
For his part in the House of Representatives, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a member of the House Oversight Committee, told CBS News that the congressional committee would hold a hearing next week to investigate the security measures—or lack thereof—in place leading up to the incident.
Beginning Monday and ending Thursday, July 18th, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has strengthened its security measures following its soon-to-be nominee's near-assassination. Trump, meanwhile, who arrived in Milwaukee yesterday, is expected to announce his running mate today—thought to be Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, or North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
DeSantis, Trump's former competitor for the nominee position, is slotted to appear as a special guest on Wednesday at the Right to America dinner, a fundraiser for a pro-Trump Super PAC. His show of unity—a new Trump point following his near-death experience—is expected to bring in high-dollar donors, National Review reported, as tickets cost $50,000 per person and $75,000 per couple.
All funds will go to reelecting Trump in November.
