Can you imagine a Donald Trump campaign without thousands and thousands of Americans gathered at outdoor rallies across the country, MAGA hats donned and flags waving? The Secret Service — fresh off its twin humiliations of practically begging an assassin to take out Trump and the forced resignation of director Kimberly Cheatle — can imagine it and is "encouraging" the Trump campaign to give them up.
Love him, hate him, or somewhere in between, massive outdoor rallies are Trump's signature event and, according to a late Tuesday report in the Washington Post, the Trump campaign is acceding to the Secret Service's suggestion that they "stop scheduling large outdoor rallies and other outdoor events with big crowds."
"Encourages" was the word WaPo used. Indeed, the usual "people familiar" with the matter say the campaign has switched to "scouting indoor venues, such as basketball arenas and other large spaces where thousands of people can fit."
Thousands, but not the 10,000-30,000 who often attended Trump's outdoor rallies. Going through the list of all the 2016 rallies, indoor events held anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand voters. Moving outdoors greatly expanded those numbers,
Forcing Trump indoors — excuse me, encouraging Trump to move indoors — puts a serious crimp in his campaign style.
For the Dem-dominated federal bureaucracy, this is called "making Cheatle's lemons into lemonade."
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Granted, the Secret Service does have a point because indoor events are easier to control. There are fewer ways to get inside and presumably, they're all monitored by security personnel at checkpoints with the usual metal detectors and such. Also, any sloped roofs are on the outside, which is a real boon for our slick-shoed Secret Service agents.
But all kidding aside, the Service's suggestion is in fact an admission that getting rid of Cheatle wasn't nearly enough to stop — let alone reverse — the long-term rot at the Service's core. Going back to the George W. Bush administration, the USSS's sterling reputation began to tarnish with tales of hookers and drug use on overseas trips.
Things got worse under former director Cheatle, the now-notorious DEI hire. Under her, the service mysteriously [cough, cough] assigned too few agents to cover Trump, left uncovered a rooftop with a line of sight to the former president, allowed a mystery man to wander about with a ladder, lost recordings of agents' radio communications, and all the rest.
My PJ Media colleague Mark Tapscott asked Tuesday night, "Will Congress yet again sit back and refuse to use its constitutionally provided powers to restore respect for the First Branch?" The United States Secret Service has been in a slow decline for two decades, and it's undeniable that the Executive Branch lacks the will or the ability to reform itself — even after an all-too-close assassination attempt.
So about that headline, "Secret Service Tells Trump to Stop Being Trump... or Die?" When I first wrote it, I was looking for something snappy to sit atop this column, even if it was a bit of an exaggeration. But is it?
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