Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will no longer receive Secret Service protection after he announced on Aug. 23 that he was suspending his campaign in 10 battleground states and urging voters in those states to support former President Donald Trump instead.
Kennedy was denied Secret Service protection five times by the Department of Homeland Security before receiving it after the assassination attempt on Trump.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 23, 2024.
Kennedy said that the repeated denials for Secret Service protection were “political” and part of a trend of federal agencies being “weaponized to serve a political agenda.” Kennedy said his campaign had to spend millions of dollars on private security before being granted Secret Service protection.
The Kennedy campaign did not provide further comment about the removal of Secret Service protection, and it is not known if he will retain Gavin de Becker & Associates again to provide security while on the campaign trail.
“In light of the weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection for Robert Kennedy Jr.” It’s standard procedure for the Secret Service to end protection when a presidential candidate drops out of the race.
Kennedy was denied Secret Service protection five times before the Department of Homeland Security granted it shortly after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13.
Following the attack, Trump said that Kennedy should “immediately” get Secret Service protection.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
De Becker also noted that the Carter administration provided Sen. Edward Kennedy, Kennedy’s uncle, with Secret Service protection 441 days before the 1980 election, “even though [Sen.] Kennedy hadn’t formally announced his candidacy.” “The Secret Service has no role in determining who is to be considered a major candidate.
Following Mayorkas’s fifth denial of Secret Service protection in April, Kennedy threatened to sue the DHS.
No comments:
Post a Comment