Few Americans trust Secret Service after gunman nearly kills Donald Trump, AP-NORC poll finds

Most Americans have doubts about the Secret Service’s ability to keep presidential candidates sheltered after last month’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a novel poll shows. Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center finds.

Only about 3 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the Secret Service could protect presidential candidates from violence before the election, according to the poll. The survey also found that about 7 in 10 Americans believe the Secret Service bears at least some responsibility for the attempted assassination.

The law enforcement agency tasked with protecting presidents for more than a century is under intense scrutiny after a gunman approached within 150 yards of Trump and fired multiple shots with an AR-style rifle. Trump was wounded in one ear but came within inches of death.

” READ MORE: Acting Secret Service Director Says He’s ‘Ashamed’ After Failed Assassination Attempt On Trump

The poll follows the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was subjected to intense questioning last week during a live-streamed congressional hearing during which she gave evasive answers. New acting Director Ronald Rowe said earlier this week that he was “ashamed” over the July 13 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying he considered it indefensible that the roof the shooter was using was not secured.

The poll found that Americans were most likely to say that political divisions in the U.S. were largely responsible for the attempted attack.

Half of American adults think so, while about 4 in 10 think the Secret Service bears a lot of responsibility and about 4 in 10 think the widespread availability of guns has a big impact.

Democrats were much more likely to blame gun availability, while Republicans were more likely to blame the Secret Service.

Only about 3 in 10 Americans are absolutely or very confident that the Secret Service can protect presidential candidates from violence before the election, according to the poll.

Roger Berg, a 70-year-old farmer from Keota, Iowa, plans to vote for Trump, the Republican candidate, in November. But he has expressed frustration with Republicans blaming President Joe Biden for issues Biden had no control over. Biden ended his reelection bid eight days after the shooting and has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“People who are bringing it all down to politics, I wish they would just go away,” Berg said. “They’re blaming it all on Biden, and I don’t believe that.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are much more likely than independents or Republicans to say that gun control comes with a lot of responsibility. Six in 10 Democrats say so, compared with about a third of independents and 15% of Republicans.

Republican respondents were more likely than independents and Democrats to blame the Secret Service: About half of Republicans say the Secret Service bears a lot of responsibility, compared with about 4 in 10 Democrats and independents.

” READ MORE: What We Learned About Trump Assassination Attempt From Secret Service Director’s Testimony Before Congress

George Velasco, a 65-year-old Navy veteran from Tucson, Ariz., said he believes both the Secret Service and local law enforcement were at fault, along with destitute communication and a lack of proper planning. The acting director of the Secret Service said earlier this week that it was regrettable that local law enforcement did not notify his agency before the shooting that a gunman had been spotted on the roof, while acknowledging that the Secret Service assumed state and local police were present.

“It was like the Secret Service expected these guys to know what to do,” Velasco said. “It was a very small area, a small town. How could they expect them to know how to prepare for something as big as this rally?”

The poll found that half of Americans believe local law enforcement in Pennsylvania bore at least moderate responsibility for the attempted bombing, although only about 2 in 10 said they bore a “great deal” of responsibility.

The Secret Service was originally created as part of the Treasury Department to investigate counterfeiting of U.S. currency during the Civil War. The agency began informally protecting presidents in 1894, according to its records. Congress required the Secret Service to protect U.S. presidents after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901.

The protection was extended to the immediate family of the president, presidents-elect, and vice presidents after a White House policeman was shot and killed while protecting President Harry S. Truman in 1950. It was later extended to former presidents in 1965. After the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, who was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Congress authorized protection for major presidential and vice presidential candidates.

About a third of Americans are absolutely or very confident that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, will conduct a full and fair investigation into the attempted bombing, while about a third are somewhat confident and about 3 in 10 are not very confident or not at all confident.

The poll of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.