Wait - it was all the fault of women in the Secret Service? Glenn Grothman on Trump on R4.

[DisneyHag]

Did I seriously hear that right? At about 6.54am on the Today programme, just now. Republican representative Glenn Grothman says the Secret Service is ‘so busy being woke they’re more concerned with employing women than ensuring they do a good job’. (Slight paraphrase.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z

This is him a couple of days ago:

newrepublic.com/post/183778/republican-rep-goes-unhinged-rant-women-emasculating-men

Well obviously if someone gets shot it's definitely not the shooter at fault and definitely ALL THE WOMEN who should be clearly restricted to making pies with suitable aprons on.

I would play devils advocate: I'm assuming the agent in question was the one at the front who was undeniably too short to do a reasonable job of physically shielding a tall man.

As a class, women are shorter so I can see the angle HOWEVER, he should have focussed on her size as that's the issue, not her ovaries.

That thought had never occurred to me but makes complete sense!

Or it's Trump's fault for being too large, and the USA should only elect short presidents.

Candidates. You know what I mean

but Trump could have ducked down, instead of waving his fist in the air

He's toddler-like in his desperate need for attention. Forget the fact he's just been shot, and the safety of all the agents around him etc. literally all that seems to matter to him is attention.

Yeah. Employing 6 foot tall and 6 foot wide security guards seems like the perfect solution.

Unbelievable, they can find a way to blame women for everything.

Some women would be perfect for the role - just as some men are perfect for the role.

Looking at the video, there were three women by the car who, it has to be said, looked panicked, fumbled, not sure what they were doing. Not just the one who couldn’t holster her gun but another one at the front who seemingly wasn’t sure how to protect the car. On the basis of the video, not just physical attributes but also demeanour, those women seemed not to be the best fit for the role.

I’d agree, definitely not the best fit for the role - have to say though that if I were a Fart - sorry, Trump - supporter, I’d be a little bit nervous of getting into any discussion on folk not being fit for a role when talking about ANYTHING related to the presidential campaign.

I'm sure women can do all kinds of secret service roles but I do question the wisdom of having a 5ft woman as body shield for a 6ft 3 man.

Although they may have to start recruiting from the NBA if Barron Trump ever decides to go into politics!

No real surprise, but Farage seems to be in on the act too. Disgusting man.

DP and I said exactly the same thing,you'd expect bodyguards to be at least as tall as the person they're shielding.

It's not just about shielding. I know a ~5 4" female Close Protection Officer in the Irish police. She protectects visiting dignitaries. Nobody should ever mess with her! It's not her job to stop long range bullets, it's to stop anyone that shouldn't from getting close to her principal. I've also met some enormous men that do the same job. I wouldn't trust them any more than her just because she's smaller. Big can be slow.

I wouldn't want to comment except that people should get jobs on merit rather than to "fill quotas"

Pass me my arse

Tbh I know nothing at all about US Secret Service recruitment policies - but I had the distinct impression, given his previous utterances, that Glenn Grothman was objecting not just to any specific women on the day, but to the concept of employing women in the Secret Service at all. Except maybe as cleaners and tea makers.

Which is surely quite worrying.

Is blaming the women not a massive deflection of the fact that they didn’t check/secure the nearby rooftops and potentially ignored members of the public who pointed out the shooter?

Yes.

I personally wouldn't want a bodyguard who was six inches shorter than me, but the visible women weren't actually the problem on the day, the problem was whoever didn't secure a very obvious rooftop sniping location overlooking the site, and didn't get Trump off the stage the instant they were informed of the shooter. Those people need sacking, regardless of sex or gender.

I also wouldn't put it past Trump to prefer female bodyguards. I'd be staggered if he'd had them imposed on him against his will.

I don't have much knowledge on this topic, but my first thought on watching the clip (rather than stills) was that her issue was getting trump to do what he was supposed to do. It looked a bit like she followed rehearsed training on what you are meant to do, but trump had his own ideas possiblely from adrenaline kicking in and stood up to shout to the crowd. and the men seemed to respond to that more. It actually looked like one man shuffled round to give a better view of the camera for trump, but it could have been to protect that side of trumps head.

He'd probably want them wearing a lot less though.

Totally agree with you. So many organisations are so busy being woke the refuse to employ the candidate that is best qualified to to the job. Box ticking matters more than ability these days.

I know it's not just about shielding,but in a situation where it's needed it doesn't make sense for the person being shielded to tower over their bodyguards.

Especially when that person has form for not doing as he's told.

I took it as a racist remark, TBH and didn't even think about female representation, but yes, you are right.