Melania Trump Weighs in on Assassination Attempt on Her Husband

This afternoon, Melania Trump uploaded a 34-second video to X, in which she questioned the official government narrative of the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt that nearly killed her husband, Donald Trump.

“The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience,” she said, gazing directly into the camera. “Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech? There is definitely more to this story, and we need to uncover the truth.”

https://t.co/ZCTwZSqZND pic.twitter.com/KKA6anTEYC
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) September 10, 2024

The assassination attempt took place in Butler Township, Pa., when Thomas Matthew Crooks fired multiple shots at the former president. At least one shot struck Trump in his ear; another bullet fatally struck Corey Comperatore, a retired fire chief. There were other injuries as well.

Numerous security breakdowns occurred that day, including the failure of the Secret Service to secure a nearby roof that provided a direct line to Trump just 150 yards away from where he was speaking. On July 13, Crooks climbed to the top of this roof, set up his rifle, and proceeded to fire at will. Earlier, the police had spotted Crooks with a rangefinder yet inexplicably failed to stop him.

Kimberly Cheatle, whom the Biden-Harris administration appointed to oversee Secret Service protection, at first steadfastly refused to resign: “Like every Secret Service agent, we don’t shirk our responsibilities. I will remain on and be responsible to the agency, to this committee, to the former president, and to the American people.”

It was only after a disastrous appearance before a bipartisan congressional committee that she was finally forced out.

“You’re full of s**t today!” thundered Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who lambasted Cheatle for being “completely dishonest” about her level of cooperation.

Her conduct appalled even the Democrats: “Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures,” wrote Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)

The Republicans' admonishment had little effect on Cheatle. It wasn't until Democratic pressure began to build that she finally changed her tune.

“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” she said in her resignation letter. (Her heart was heavy; her brain, we suspect, was likely underweight.)

Still, as Melania Trump noted in her tweet, it’s been roughly 50 days since the shocking assassination attempt against her husband, and many questions remain unanswered:

We don’t know where, specifically, the security protocol broke down. All we know for sure is that it did. As far as we can tell, there’s been no real accountability from anyone in the field.
We’re unsure how Secret Service and local law enforcement are jointly handling threats. It’s not at all clear that there are clean lines of communication.
We don’t know what — or who — motivated Thomas Crooks. Was he radicalized by Democratic propaganda? Or was he a mentally ill opportunist who just wanted to watch the world burn? Scant information has become available to the public.
Was Donald Trump the only target? This is tied to Crooks’ motivation. There have been reports that Crooks’ father tried to warn law enforcement, but it’s unclear if law enforcement heeded this warning.
Why was the Secret Service so slow to act? You would expect an ace team of professionals to secure the venue and fly into action at the first sign of danger. Yet somehow, Crooks was able to visit the venue, leave, return with weapons, scale a building, and fire multiple shots before the Secret Service reacted.
Was this a one-off breakdown in Secret Service protection? Maybe a once-in-a-zillion anomaly? Or, chillingly, perhaps these breakdowns happen all the time, but fortunately, most events are peaceful. If it turns out that our presidential security is more vulnerable than we suspect, we can expect outlaw nations—such as Iran and others—to escalate their activity, perhaps attempting an assassination of their own.
Should Republicans still have faith in the Secret Service anymore? The Obama administration weaponized the IRS to target Republicans; the Biden-Harris administration has weaponized the judiciary to target Republicans. With this kind of precedent, can you really blame Republicans for looking side-eyed at the Secret Service? (Especially if Secret Service agents were being promoted for DEI reasons instead of merit?)