The video, as of this writing, is nearly a decade old. It stems from a speech given by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013 at a March 4, 2013, policy conference held by the lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known by its acronym AIPAC. In the video, conspiracy theorists zoom in on the Secret Service agent and accuse him of being a reptile, which could not have helped that individual's self-esteem.
Despite warnings from his top lawyers, former President Donald Trump insisted on going to the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- and he "lung[ed]" at a Secret Service agent who told him he couldn't, a former White House aide said.
Former Secret Service agent to share stories from White House
Trump made the comments in the wake of Jan. 6 Committee hearing testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. She said former Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Tony Ornato told her Trump tried to "grab at the steering wheel" of the "Beast" presidential limo, and Trump then lunged at the Secret Service agent in charge at the time.
I am indebted to Mike Howard, a retired Secret Service agent who lives in McKinney, Texas, for sharing with me details of some of the security measures taken for President Kennedy's visit to Fort Worth. Howard, from the service's Dallas office, notes that agent Duncan had assigned him as "law enforcement liaison." He visited Fort Worth Police Chief Cato Hightower to advise him of "what was about to fall upon him." Howard sought the chief's help in viewing records of persons in the area who might be threats to the presidential party. He says that thirty people were detained or placed under surveillance. The agent then called on Tarrant County Sheriff Lon Evans to contact all law enforcement agencies in the county to tell them "we needed every body that wore a badge to work November 21 and 22." The call was answered. Even firemen turned out, many of them assigned to posts in the hotel's exits and stairwells.
"Here is your seat, Mr. Johnson," I said cheerfully. He stared down at me while he struggled into a coat held by Secret Service agent Rufus Youngblood. The Vice President climbed into the car. The deed was done. Up ahead, the Kennedys and Governor Connally settled into their white convertible, which, Agent Howard recalls, had been borrowed by the Secret Service from professional golfer Ben Hogan. There were waves and cheers from the onlookers. The motorcade to Carswell began. Riding in a Secret Service car, Howard was pleased to see Tarrant County's "Mounted Posse" out in force to supplement police on foot. Rain had canceled the planned presence of these deputies on horseback along the incoming route the night before. There was, Howard recalls, an unscheduled stop by the presidential cavalcade along the way. In the northwest suburb of River Oaks, the line of cars paused while the President spoke to some nuns and a group of school children.
Lots of news swirling around about the boxes of classified information Trump took from the United States and held at Mar-a-Lago, but the most telling window into all those stories is that the former president took to his Truth Social network this morning to demand that he be declared the winner of the 2020 election, or that the election be redone again \u201Cimmediately!\u201D
Biden\u2019s use of the physical symbols of our democracy to defend its values is itself a statement about the return of the rule of law. The former president used our symbols not to reinforce the nation\u2019s principles, but to shore up his own leadership. In August 2020, almost exactly two years ago, he held an extravaganza at the White House to accept his renomination for president. He used the backdrop of the White House; Vice President Mike Pence spoke at Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner; and First Lady Melania Trump spoke from the newly renovated Rose Garden\u2014all in service to Trump.
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