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Eric Trump spoke with Scripps News political correspondent Haley Bull Tuesday at the Republican National Convention, saying the security failure in the assassination attempt on his father "reeks of incompetence."
Eric Trump described the shooter as a "madman," but thanked God "for the agents on that stage" who rushed to assist his father as he knelt for cover behind the podium. While he didn't blame any individual Secret Service agents for what happened, Trump did cast doubt on the agency as a whole.
"I have confidence in the people around him," he said. "I don't have, necessarily, confidence in the agency as a whole right now. I think they need to do some inward reflection ... at the top of that organization, I think they need to do some major self-reflection because something like that can never happen again."
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His comments come just days after former President Donald Trump said he was shot in the ear during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In the days since, the U.S. Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny as President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review into the incident.
As we now know, the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, reportedly used a ladder to gain access to a roof nearly 150 yards from where Trump was speaking. From there, Crooks fired multiple rounds toward the stage, injuring the former president and two rally attendees and leaving one man dead.
"Republican, Democrat — this can never happen again," Eric Trump said. "We’re the United States of America. Can you imagine the weakness that that portrays to the rest of the world if our leaders are getting taken out?”
