Trump ‘saved his own life’ during shooting: ex-Secret Service agent Dan Bongino

 Dan Bongino, a conservative radio host and former Secret Service agent, credited former President Donald Trump with saving his own life during the assassination attempt Saturday.

Bongino excoriated the Secret Service for an “absolutely catastrophic” failure during Trump’s rally in Butler, Penn. and surmised that the former president’s decision to duck was live-saving.

“The bunting around the front of the stage is probably armor. Donald Trump knew to duck. I mean, most people would. He saved his own life,” Bongino told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Sunday.”

Trump, 78, was seen turning his head slightly just before the shots rang out. He then grabbed his ear and ducked down before Secret Service agents jumped on top of him to form a human shield.

The former president later claimed that a bullet “pierced the upper part of my right ear” and he felt it “ripping through the skin.”

00:08

04:35

4

Donald Trump expressed gratitude for the Secret Service after surviving the assassination attempt.Anadolu via Getty Images
Authorities have since identified 20-year-old Pennsylvanian Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspected gunman and the FBI is currently investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt. At least one person was killed and two others were severely wounded.

Bongino, who served in the Secret Service from 1999 to 2011 raked the protective agency over the coals for the security failures that took place.

“If that’s the best technology we have, and we had a CS [Counter Sniper] team up there — we’re trained out to 1,000 yards in the Secret Service with the counter sniper team — how did they miss someone, at most 1/5 of the way there? It doesn’t make any sense,” he pondered.

“Even worse, it’s broad daylight on a white roof.”

4

Dan Bongino blasted the Secret Service for an ‘absolutely catastrophic’ security failure.FOX

One witness told the BBC that he saw a gunman crawling up on the roof, which is estimated to have been roughly 130 yards from the stage where Trump spoke, and tried to alert authorities.

Sources claimed that the suspect was on a roof outside the security perimeter when he opened fire from a shed roof. Ultimately, law enforcement “neutralized” the suspect, according to the Secret Service.

Bongino also ripped the Secret Service for other failures.

“The evacuation did not go right,” he said. “The rule with the Secret Service is cover the protectee and evacuate.”

Still, he commended the agents onstage who went to barricade Trump shortly after the gunfire began.

Bongino also disputed the Secret Service’s denial that Trump’s team requested a more robust security presence in the past.

4

Donald Trump did a fist pump after surviving a shooting.AP

Several individuals with close ties to Trump such as Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) — publicly claimed to have heard from “very reliable sources” that there had been requests for more robust security for Trump.

He alleged that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas denied those requests.

Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi dismissed those allegations, without naming Waltz directly.

“Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false,” he posted on X.

“In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” he added.

Bongino was deeply skeptical of that assertaion and claimed to have reliable sources who contradicted it.

“I can tell you, and absolutely confirm from the horse’s mouth, from multiple people, not just one…there have been repeated requests [to] increase the security footprint

4

A diagram shows how far the shooter’s location was from Donald Trump.

Bongino also echoed many of the grumblings from conservatives about the Secret Service’s focus, suggesting it had gotten distracted with irrelevant concerns.

“They were more concerned about the color of the Secret Service agents ties around Donald Trump, given the perception,” he said, noting fear that a red tie could suggest an agent had conservative sympathies.

He also conveyed conservative gripes about the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion program, which has drawn scrutiny from congressional Republicans.

“You have one job, and only one job. Your job is [to] keep the body alive. No matter what,” he said. “And the fact that Donald Trump didn’t die yesterday is no reason for anybody to take some kind of victory lap.”

Already, congressional investigators have teased plans to call Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle for testimony as soon as July 22 to discuss the security failures.

Some lawmakers have announce plans to craft legislation that would bolster resources for the Secret Service to stave off any copy-cat attempts.

https://nypost.com/2024/07/14/us-news/donald-trump-saved-his-own-life-during-shooting-ex-secret-service-agent-dan-bongino-says/

'Sanders says Trump assassination attempt will not impact Biden’s candidacy'

 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday that the assassination attempt on former President Trump will not impact President Biden’s chances of securing the Democratic nomination.

“No, I don’t,” he told host Kristen Welker on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” when she asked if the shooting would impact the debate around Biden’s fitness. “I think President Biden is the strongest candidate the Democrats have.”

Sanders was originally slated to join the program to discuss his New York Times op-ed urging Democrats to halt calls for Biden to drop out of the race, and to end what he described as a “circular firing squad.” 

The senator strongly condemned the assisination attempt, which took place at a Trump campaign rally Saturday evening in Pennsylvania. 

Welker during the interview reminded Sanders that a volunteer on his campaign shot Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (La.) at a baseball practice in 2017.

“What democracy is about, is not radical rhetoric,” Sanders responded. “What it is about is a serious discussion of where we are as a nation and how we go forward.”

“Politics should be kind of boring, you know?” he added.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4771278-sanders-trump-assassination-attempt/

Trump calls on nation to ‘stand united’ after shooting

 Former President Trump called on Americans to unite on Sunday, following the assassination attempt on him at a campaign rally on Saturday. 

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.”

In the same post, the former president said it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Trump’s comments come hours after shots were fired at his rally Saturday evening in Butler, Pa., during which he said a bullet pierced his ear. The U.S. Secret Service said the shooter and one spectator at the rally were killed, and two other attendees were critically injured.

The FBI has identified the suspect as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa.

Late on Saturday, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee confirmed that the former president would still be in attendance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which starts Monday.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4771083-trump-calls-unity-americans-shooting/

AFPI Files Fed Suit Challenging Admin Effort to Turn Fed Agencies into Partisan Voter Registration Machines

 Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) announced the filing of a federal lawsuit that challenges Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 14019, which attempts to turn federal agencies into partisan voter registration machines.

AFPI and the national law firm of Schaerr Jaffe LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of a group of plaintiffs, including the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Rep. Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), and Frank LaRose, Secretary of State of Ohio against the Biden Administration.

“The Biden Administration’s desperation to unfairly and illegally win the election knows no bounds," said Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13). "Instead of instilling policies that Americans want and need, they turn to the well-oiled DC swamp filled to the brim with deep state loyalists to illegally register voters in an attempt to help them win. I am proud to lead this lawsuit with AFPI to once again hold the Biden administration accountable for illegally weaponizing the federal government.”

“The Biden Administration is once again weaponizing federal agencies, this time to steer taxpayer resources to liberal activist groups who want to sway the election,” said Frank LaRose, Secretary of State of Ohio. “This is a cynical attempt to turn government agencies into a Democratic turnout machine, and it’s wrong. That’s why I’m joining this lawsuit and working to hold the administration accountable.”

“We are pushing back on Biden’s unlawful attempt to weaponize federal agencies into a leftwing election operation that opens the doors to noncitizen voting and all manner of lawbreaking,” said Ken Blackwell, AFPI Chair of the Center for Election Integrity. “Congress has not authorized or funded any of this, so we seek a court order to stop it by simply enforcing federal law. The America First Policy Institute continues to lead the way in making it easy to vote but hard to cheat.”

“Unless we put a stop to this unlawful EO, the Biden Administration and its far-Left allies will convert every federal agency into a partisan voter registration machine,” said Mike Berry, AFPI Executive Director of the Center for Litigation. “What the Biden Administration could not accomplish by lawful means it has forced upon the American people by executive fiat.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Texas, and although the plaintiffs seek a swift and favorable resolution, AFPI is fully prepared to litigate this case to finality, even if that requires going to the United States Supreme Court.

Read AFPI’s lawsuit against the Biden Administration here.

Read AFPI’s one-pager on the lawsuit here.

https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-files-federal-lawsuit-challenging-biden-admin-effort-to-turn-federal-agencies-into-partisan-voter-registration-machines

Medical community must stop gaslighting COVID vaccine victims like me

 Vaccine adverse effects are real. I know it makes some people uncomfortable to acknowledge this, but alongside the benefits of vaccines, there are cases of profound harm.

I am living this reality daily, and I want to live in a world where these harms are adequately addressed. 

Recently, the New York Times covered my story: “Thousands Believe COVID Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?” Sadly, no one is listening yet, and very few people are willing to help. 

I am a research nurse practitioner who has dedicated my professional career to community health and clinical research, including vaccines. My beliefs are firmly rooted in science.  

Three years ago, when the COVID-19 vaccine emerged, I stepped forward to receive it. What followed was unexpected and devastating. 

Within hours I developed tingling along my right arm, which over days radiated across my body. A neurologist and colleague recommended that I proceed with a second dose. With the vaccine mandate from my employer at the top of my mind, I proceeded, against my own medical judgment.  

After the second dose, my condition rapidly worsened. I developed positional tachycardia, wildly fluctuating blood pressures, internal tremors, electrical zap sensations on my legs, intense right-sided headaches, abdominal pain and severe tinnitus. I struggle to live with all of this and more to this day. 

I am a registered Democrat. It turns out that vaccines do not care about your political ideology. Regardless of political beliefs, health care must transcend partisan debates. I find myself trapped in a polarized discourse, where nuanced discussions are suppressed, and both political and scientific support are elusive. 

The reluctance to engage in honest, open dialogue about vaccine injuries perpetuates unnecessary suffering and isolation for the thousands affected.   

We are in desperate need, but we feel both abandoned by the communities that champion vaccination and co-opted by those opposed to vaccines. We are caught between accusations of jeopardizing vaccine efforts and assertions that we deserve our suffering. This only exacerbates our trauma. 

Medical gaslighting, coupled with the absence of legal recourse or adequate compensation, compounds the challenges we endure. When I reach out for help, my pleas often fall on deaf ears, or I am disparaged as a misinformed “anti-vaxxer.”   

Policymakers and scientists, distanced from the harsh realities of vaccine injuries, must rekindle their compassion and acknowledge the urgency of our plight. Minimizing our suffering as rare occurrences undermines the urgency to address the systemic flaws in vaccine compensation and support mechanisms.   

I need to believe that our lives are more than just epidemiological data points. 

Despite these hardships and the desperate need for research and medical care, there are legislative steps we can take to alleviate the suffering of those impacted by COVID vaccine injuries.  

In the U.S. there are two mechanisms used for compensating vaccine injuries. Most vaccines are covered under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides a fairer chance at meaningful compensation.  

The COVID vaccines, however, were placed into the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. This mechanism for compensation is fraught with problems. The scope of injuries is severely limited, the window to file a claim is short, there is no judicial review, no legal representation, and compensation rates are so low as to be meaningless.

As of June 2024, there have been over 13,000 claims filed and only 13 approved, with the highest compensation being less than $10,000. The burden of proof is so high that almost no amount of evidence is sufficient to satisfy a claim. With minimal research into COVID vaccine adverse reactions, evidence is nearly impossible to provide.   

There are also two House bills (two House bills that recognize and attempt to remedy flaws in the system. The most important, immediate action is to pass these bills to move the COVID vaccines from the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.   

Our commitment to vaccine safety should not waver. Pharmacovigilance is the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of pharmaceutical adverse effects. Strengthening compensation mechanisms and enhancing pharmacovigilance are not just policy imperatives – they are moral imperatives. By implementing these necessary reforms, we can bolster trust in public health and vaccines.

I share my story not as an indictment of vaccines but as a call to action. We have an ethical responsibility to provide urgent support for those, in doing what the government asked of them, experienced life-altering, disabling COVID vaccine adverse effects.  

Shaun Barcavage is a Research Nurse Practitioner from New York, N.Y. who has dedicated his professional career to community health and clinical research. Most recently, he was employed by Weill Cornell Medicine and worked during the pandemic conducting research on therapeutics and vaccines. He established one of the first online support groups for individuals suffering hearing loss/tinnitus (ringing in the ear) post-vaccination.

https://thehill.com/opinion/4767739-covid-vaccine-injuries-neglected/