Americans adopt more critical view of US Secret Service
- Americans' impression of the Secret Service is declining, Gallup reports
- The nation's outlook on the agency has been generally positive since 2014
- Gallup did most of its polling before recent alleged assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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(NewsNation) — Americans’ rating of the U.S. Secret Service’s job performance has taken a nosedive in the past decade, according to Gallup polling that was mostly completed before the Sept. 15 alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
About one in three U.S. adults rate the Secret Service’s performance as excellent or good, while 25% say the agency’s work is “only fair.” Another 36% characterized the Secret Service’s job performance as “poor.”
The polling was conducted amid ongoing investigations into the July 13 shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump suffered a graze wound to his ear. One rallygoer died and several others were injured.
Americans and lawmakers scrutinized the Secret Service after the shooting and an alleged assassination attempt two months later only drew more attention to the agency’s perceived security lapses.
Although more than half of Americans, on average, have had a positive outlook on the Secret Service since 2014, it’s not the first time faith in the agency has dipped.
The current approval rating is the lowest it’s been in 10 years. Americans in 2014 were more skeptical of the Secret Service’s efficacy, following several security lapses — including an intruder who jumped a fence and entered the White House. The public’s outlook on the agency’s performance has been mostly positive since 2014 — until now. Forty-three percent of Americans at the time said the Secret Service was doing an “excellent” or “good” job, while 16% rated the agency’s performance as “poor.”
