Most Americans doubt the Secret Service's ability to protect presidential candidates after last month's attempt to impeach former President Donald Trump, a new poll from The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows.
Only 3 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the Secret Service can keep presidential candidates safe from violence before the election, according to the poll. The poll also found that about 7 in 10 Americans think the Secret Service bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the assassination.
The agency, which has been tasked with protecting presidents for more than a century, has come under intense criticism after a gunman was able to fire at Mr. Trump from a distance of about 137 meters with an AR-style rifle. Former President Trump was wounded in the ear, just a few millimeters from a fatal blow.
The poll follows the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle, who faced intense questioning last week in a televised congressional hearing in which she gave evasive answers.
The new acting attorney, Ronald Rowe, said earlier this week that he was "ashamed" after the July 13 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said it was indefensible that the roof used by the gunman was not secured.
During a press conference Friday, Rowe acknowledged the American people's loss of confidence in the agency. He said that in general, people only know about the agency's failures and not its successes.
He praised the agency's employees who work quietly behind the scenes to protect political rallies, Inauguration Day and other events.
"We will earn your trust," he vowed.
The poll found that Americans believe the assassination of Trump may have been significantly influenced by political divisions in the country.
While 4 in 10 Americans say the Secret Service holds a high level of responsibility, 4 in 10 Americans polled believe that a great deal of responsibility also falls on the widespread availability of weapons.
Democrats were much more likely to blame the availability of guns while Republicans were more likely to blame the Secret Service.
Democrats are much more likely than independents or Republicans to say that a large part of the responsibility lies with the availability of guns. The poll shows that 6 in 10 Democrats polled blame guns, compared to about a third of independents and 15% of Republicans.
About half of Republicans think the Secret Service has too much responsibility, compared with about 4 in 10 Democrats and independents.
The acting director of the Secret Service said earlier this week that it was unfortunate that local police had not notified his agency before the shooting that an armed subject had been seen on a roof, while also acknowledging that the Service Sekret thought that the state and local police had the perimeter under control.
The poll found that half of Americans think police in Pennsylvania had at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the assassination, although only about 2 in 10 respondents said they had a great deal of responsibility.
The Secret Service was originally created as part of the Treasury Department to investigate the counterfeiting of American currency during the Civil War. The agency began unofficially protecting presidents in 1894, according to its records. Congress appointed the Secret Service with the task of protecting American presidents after the assassination of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley in 1901./Voice of America
