‘They may decide whether they need more personnel or not,’ Biden told reporters.
President Joe Biden said on Monday that the Secret Service needs more personnel after a probable assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump a day earlier.
Speaking to reporters in the morning, Biden said he did not yet have a full report of the Sunday attempt at Trump’s Florida golf course and that he was thankful the former president was fine.
“Thank God the president is OK,” he said, referring to Trump.
“The service needs more help,” Biden told reporters as he departed the White House for Delaware. “Congress should respond to their need.
“They may decide whether they need more personnel or not.”
Biden isn’t the only elected U.S. official calling for more Secret Service resources since the second assassination attempt on Trump.
“Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former President & the Republican nominee is unacceptable,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on social media platform X. “The Secret Service must come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the protective perimeter, & lets allocate it in a bipartisan vote the same day.”
Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former President & the Republican nominee is unacceptable. The Secret Service must come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the protective perimeter, & lets allocate it in a bipartisan vote the same day.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 16, 2024
The FBI told The Epoch Times on Sunday that it is investigating the incident as an “apparent assassination attempt,” and few details have been released by the agency since then.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and other law enforcement officials told a news conference around the same time that Secret Service agents encountered the alleged shooter after discovering a rifle muzzle sticking through a chain-link fence on the outer perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach County, Florida. The agent then engaged with the suspect, who fled the scene, according to the officials.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified by law enforcement, was captured by sheriff’s officials in Marion County, the sheriff said.
Photos released during the news conference showed an AK-style rifle, a GoPro camera, and two backpacks near the fence. One of the photos appeared to show the rifle sticking through the fence.
