Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance told Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson on Wednesday that it was a “scandal” that Vice President Kamala Harris failed to seek more “insight” into the security failures that led to the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
On July 13, 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots at Trump and his supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania, killing former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounding two supporters and Trump in the ear. During an episode of “The Tucker Carlson Interview,” Vance accused Harris of being “in charge of the government” yet not pressing for more information about the first assassination attempt despite multiple public disclosures of the agency's security failings.
“This should actually be a media scandal. Kamala Harris is running against Donald Trump for president. Kamala Harris is currently running the government while Donald Trump was nearly killed in a massive security breach. She should use every tool in her power to uncover and expose what is really going on here,” Vance said.
“I think it's really scandalous that she doesn't care at all. Her political opponent was nearly killed and she didn't use the government to actually investigate why or what security lapses nearly killed him,” Vance continued. “The media and everybody else should be really upset about this, because she could be doing a lot more than she's doing right now.”
Carlson then said Harris' inaction “suggests an unacceptable darkness.” Vance went on to question Harris' motives for not pursuing an investigation, noting that voters would not know “what really happened” before the election. (RELATED: Megyn Kelly and lawyers discuss whether second Trump assassination suspect may have a legal defense)
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No one in Washington seems to know how much we are spending on illegal immigration. JD Vance is going to find out.
(0:10) Meet Atlas
(1:14) J.D. Vance's election predictions
(5:30) The Left's Plan to Defeat Trump
(12:04) How much does America spend on illegal immigration?
(23:04)… pic.twitter.com/L4tj66uLwp— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 18, 2024
“So, I don't know. Is it incompetence? Is it because they don't want to get to the bottom of it? Is it because they want to hide their motives because if the story comes out that this guy is a left-wing extremist, it will benefit Donald Trump? There are a whole bunch of different explanations for what's going on here,” Vance continued.
“But, look, I'm a realist. Do I think we'll know what actually happened in Pennsylvania before the election? No, I don't, because every incentive that exists in government right now is to cover it up, to suppress it, to lie and to cover up the failures of different people. So, look, I don't think we're ever going to know much about it,” Vance said.
At the time of the attack, Crooks was reportedly stationed on a rooftop just 130 yards from the stage and was reportedly seen multiple times by local police and witnesses. Just days after the attack, then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told the House Oversight Committee that she had not visited the rally and had only spoken with agents who had protected Trump the day after the incident.
Cheatle subsequently resigned on July 23 after coming under investigation for security failings.
Lawmakers later created a bipartisan task force of seven Republicans and six Democrats to investigate security failings at the event. But after the initial incident, authorities arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, on Sunday at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on suspicion of attempting to assassinate President Trump.
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