The Secret Service’s diversity policies may have contributed to its botched Donald Trump security operation where he came within millimetres of death, according to Lauren Chen.
The 78-year-old Republican presidential nominee was the subject of an assassination attempt while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The Security Service is now under fire with many asking how the shooter was able to get so close to the former president.
Speaking on GBN America, media commentator Lauren Chen said the group has often stressed the importance of inclusion in its hiring process, which may have resulted in a weaker security force.
Lauren Chen criticised the Secret Service
REUTERS / GBN AMERICA
“The head of the Security Service has been on record during interviews talking about how she thinks that diversity is so important and that it needs to be part of the inherent structure”, she said on GBN America.
“There have been pushes to get the representation of women in the Secret Service up to 30 per cent, if not more.
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“Of course, we see now, especially with analysis from people who are more familiar with how security details should be conducted, that there were many failings on behalf of the Secret Service during this day.
“The fact that the roof that the shooter ended up sitting on was not secured, the fact there were warning signs that a shooting was going to happen by people in the audience who saw the shooter, the fact we know that the snipers had the shooter in their sights, but chose for some reason not to fire until he had already taken the shot at Trump.
“The fact that Trump was not removed from the stage immediately upon the time that the shooter was spotted, and even after there were shootings, he was still not relocated to somewhere safe.
“He got that iconic photo. When we think about it in retrospect, that was more time where the president himself was vulnerable to an attack, so there were many failings this day, I hope we find those who are responsible and hold them accountable.”
Chen spoke to Patrick Christys on GBN America
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Chen claimed there are “literal” reasons why having a significant amount of women on the frontline of a robust security operation has its troubles.
She told Patrick Christys that a women’s height being smaller on average in comparison to men is one of the many notable points.
“We just know that there have been people who are put in positions not because of their skill or because they’re the best for the job, but for ideological reasons”, she said.
“Females in the Secret Service literally have lower standards than the males.
Donald Trump assassination attempt: The horrifying moment shots rang out PICTUREDGETTY IMAGES“For example, they require fewer push ups to pass the test that Secret Service agents are required to do.
“We even saw that many of the women who were on Trump’s detail on the day look a foot shorter than him. So how can these people be expected to be giving Trump cover when they’re so much smaller than him?”
The shooting took place at a campaign rally near US city Butler, and saw 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fire eight rounds with an AR-15-style rifle from the roof of a building located around 400 feet (120 metres) from the stage.
He also killed audience member Corey Comparator and critically injured two others.
Crooks was then shot and killed by the Secret Service’s counter-sniper team.