Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett was criticized after suggesting in a Fox News interview that the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was due to a "DEI person" leading the Secret Service, referring to the agency's female director, Kimberly Cheatle.
Cheatle is responsible for "successfully executing the agency’s integrated mission of protection and investigations by leading a diverse workforce composed of more than 7,800 Special Agents, Uniformed Division Officers, Technical Law Enforcement Officers, and Administrative, Professional, and Technical personnel," according to the Secret Service's official website.
She previously served as Senior Director in Global Security at PepsiCo and dedicated 27 years in the Secret Service, particularly as Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations.
But Burchett suggested Cheatle's bona fides are meaningless, as you can see in the video below.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational strategies aimed at ensuring fair treatment and full participation for everyone, with a special focus on historically marginalized or discriminated groups. These frameworks strive to create an environment where all individuals, regardless of their identity or abilities, are valued and included.
Critics argue that DEI programs are discriminatory and try to address racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. However, supporters and industry experts maintain that DEI practices, which have been in place for decades, have been politicized and are often misunderstood.
Burchett, remarking on the would-be assassin who nearly killed Trump on Saturday, said:
"How the hell did he get on top of that roof? If you look at the pictures, he didn't go through the top of the roof [because] there had to be a ladder or something. Somebody definitely dropped the ball."
"You've got a DEI person who heads up our Secret Service. She was working at Pepsi before this. I know she was a former Secret Service agent but still, this is what happens when you don't put the best players in."
"It's a complete failure on our part and as I talked to Chairman [James] Comer last night, I stressed with him [that] everybody's got to follow the rules, the 72-hour rule where we can do a hearing. ... We've got to get to Washington, to hell with the [Republican National Convention]."
"We've got to find out what went on and make sure it never happens again."
Burchett joins a group of conservative figures who have criticized the Secret Service for allegedly prioritizing DEI. They have seized upon comments made by Cheatle in 2023 regarding efforts to attract more female recruits to diversify the agency. Indeed, some conservatives have suggested the agency shouldn't employ female agents at all.
Burchett was harshly criticized for his remarks.
Burchett is known for making inflammatory remarks.
Last year, he was mocked online after he claimed during a Newsmax interview that "too many men" in the military are "wearing dresses."
Burchett stated there is "no reason" for U.S. troops to remain in Syria, but acknowledged the necessity of a response to a drone attack that killed an American contractor and injured others, falsely alleging that the Biden administration has men "wearing dresses and doing crazy things, and that is the kind of thing our international media picks up on."
Notably, Burchett was criticized after he said there is no way to "fix" school shootings in the wake of a mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville that claimed the lives of three children and three adults. Burchett, who in 2022 voted against a bill to expand background checks on gun sales, stated school shootings cannot be prevented because "criminals are gonna be criminals."
When asked by reporters what could be done "to protect people like your little girl from being safe at school," Burchett replied that people could simply "home school" their children, noting that he and his wife had chosen to homeschool their daughter because "it suited our needs much better."
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