Nigel Farage in ‘disbelief’ at Secret Service after ‘horrifying’ Trump assassination attempt: ‘Failures must be uncovered’

Nigel Farage in ‘disbelief’ at Secret Service after ‘horrifying’ Trump assassination attempt: ‘Failures must be uncovered’

WATCH NOW: Nigel Farage delivers his verdict on Donald Trump shooting

GB News
Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 16/07/2024

- 20:51

The former US President was struck by a bullet to his ear on Saturday as he gave his keynote speech in Pennsylvania

Nigel Farage has expressed his "disbelief" towards the US Secret Service following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Saturday.

The former US leader was delivering a speech at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old gunman shot at Trump, hitting his ear.


The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was then shot dead at the scene by the Secret Service.

Delivering his verdict on the incident in his return to GB News, Nigel Farage claimed he does "not believe" the assassination attempt will change Trump, saying he felt the former President would just be "even more determined".

Donald Trump and Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage admits he was 'horrified' by the news of Donald Trump's assassination attempt

Getty / GB News

Recalling how he found about about the shooting, Nigel said: "It was about 11.30pm on Saturday evening when I got the call - they've shot Trump. I was horrified, but somehow not particularly shocked.

"I think some of the narrative that has been whipped up against him, not just by those on the extreme left, but actually propagated through so-called comedians and quite a lot of American mainstream media, made me think that somehow it was inevitable that he would at some point face a serious attempt on his life."

Criticising the Secret Service's handling of the gunman and their security of the rally, Farage fumed: "I find it really hard to believe that the Secret Service could have allowed a man onto the only roof in the vicinity, 130 yards away from where President number 45 was speaking.

"By an absolute miracle of fate, I mean literally, as the guy was about to pull the trigger, he moved his head sharply to look at one of the screens to get some immigration statistics, and the bullet went through his ear. And thank God for that."

Donald Trump

The former US President was struck by a bullet to his ear on Saturday as he gave his keynote speech in Pennsylvania

Getty

Sharing his support for personal friend Donald Trump following the shooting, Nigel claimed that the incident will "not change him" going forward with his election campaign.

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Nigel told GB News: "Will it change him as a man? I very much doubt it. I think he'll be just even more determined to carry on the way that he is.

"Even before the election, he was looking in an even stronger position. And I say that because the polling in the key swing states is very much going in his direction. So, I wonder, is a Trump win now absolutely, on the cards?"

Bringing in Spencer Critchley, former campaign advisor to Barack Obama, Critchley claimed that the US authorities need to "uncover the failings" of the Secret Service in stopping the gunman from getting onto the roof.

Critchley explained: "It was an utterly horrible event, as anybody who believes in democracy must recognise.

Nigel Farage

Former campaign advisor to Barack Obama, Spencer Critchley, says that failures of the Secret Service 'must be uncovered'

GB News

"I think, of course, our attention must be focused on this assassination attempt, and uncovering what kind of failures as it appears now, led to the possibility of that happening after 43 years without a successful attempt on a president or presidential candidate."

Turning the discussion to Joe Biden and his future in the election campaign, Nigel asked Obama's former advisor if the party needs to "wake up and get rid of him".

Critchley responded: "I think that the key issue here is, first of all, a legitimate question - is there a health condition that people should be concerned about? If the truth, which can only be known to the people closest to him, is that President Biden does have some kind of serious condition, that's what they should be acting based on.

"Ultimately, there's no way to spin something like that. On the other hand, if this is just a difficulty with language and cognitively he's perfectly fine, then they can proceed with the challenge and commit to it to try to win."

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