Security First
It is traditional, in the wake of tragic assassinations in the 1960s, for the major party presidential and vice presidential candidates to receive Secret Service protection for the four months leading up to a general election. That’s the general rule, but there are exceptions.
For example, in 2007 when Barack Obama was running for president, he received a variety of threats against his life. In fact, the protection was granted to the then-U.S. Senator in May 2007, very early in his campaign and some 8 months before he won the Iowa Caucus.
The origin of this Secret Service protection for candidates came in the wake of the killing of the leading Democrat candidate in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy.
Now, 55 years later, his son Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is running for president against an incumbent, and because of threats made against him, he sought Secret Service protection.
But it was denied by the Biden Administration.
Typically, there are standards that must be met for this: the individual must be a publicly declared candidate, pursuing the nomination of a qualified party, actively campaigning nationally and contesting in at least 10 state primaries, etc.
But despite submitting a 67-page report from one of the world’s top protection firms, detailing unique security risks associated with Mr. Kennedy’s public appearances…the request was denied. The Kennedy team says the typical turnaround time for such requests is 14 days, but it took the Administration nearly three months—88 days—to determine that protection is not warranted.
There’s been some back and forth on the issue since then, mostly finger pointing about which agency should review the request and whether the standard provisions should be used.
I’m a taxpayer, and in my view…when in doubt, err on the side of caution.
It’s not that Mr. Kennedy does not already have private security; trust me, we’re trying to host him for an Iowa Talking Points event, so I’m directly aware. But the signal that it sends, that the Biden Administration is withholding Secret Service protection for his key primary opponent…at the same time there are assertions that the same Administration is turning its Justice Department against Biden’s key GOP opponent…should be of concern to us all.
