Has DEI compromised the Secret Service?

“ DEI almost got a presidential candidate killed.”

“It is perverse and scandalous that we allowed women in the Secret Service .”

“Dear God, please get [women] out of the ... Secret Service.”

These are just a few of the many choice quotes from right-wing political commentators who have tried to tie the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This backlash is not without some merit, but they’re taking things much too far.

Consider Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, for example, who claimed that DEI was responsible for the near-miss on Trump’s life. This claim is vastly premature and, so far, nowhere near justified.

The actions of local law enforcement and Secret Service agents in the buildup to the shooting are being intensely scrutinized, and for good reason. Reports suggest that law enforcement may have been tipped off to the shooter’s presence well before he took his first shot yet failed to intervene.

So, too, their failure to surveil and secure the rooftop from which the shooter took his shots is worthy of scrutiny. But these are all possible tactical and strategic failures by the entire unit and its command structure, not individual flubs made by particular female Secret Service agents, and regardless, we can’t confirm that any specific female agent is in her job due to DEI. Meanwhile, as the Washington Examiner's Tom Rogan pointed out , some of the criticism the female officers involved in the Trump shooting are coming under is unwarranted.

So, while it may have played a role, concluding that DEI was a primary factor behind this security failure is to jump ahead of the facts in pursuit of a convenient ideological conclusion and partisan talking point.

In the same vein, those such as Michael Knowles and Pearl Davis , who argue that women should point-blank be prohibited from serving in the Secret Service, are going too far and, frankly, advocating sexist discrimination. They’re also ignoring the fact that female agents play an important role in the Secret Service's protection of female subjects such as, for example, the first lady. And many administrative or executive jobs within the Secret Service are not on the front lines, with no reason to exclude women from these positions other than, well, sexism.

But while many conservative critics of DEI and the Secret Service are taking things too far, their scrutiny is not without any basis.

The Biden official appointed to lead the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, has openly discussed the emphasis she is placing on diversity and even set a goal quota for 30% female recruits by 2030. This is sheer and utter madness.

When it comes to roles that are matters of life and death, there is no room for identity politics nonsense. The best and most qualified prospects should always be selected, with no regard or favor given to women for diversity’s sake.

And even more disturbingly, female agents are being openly held to lower physical standards. The Secret Service’s website publishes the physical standards expected of agents and specifically outlines different expectations for men and women. That is indefensible.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Is it necessary for prospective Secret Service agents aged 20 to 29 to be able to run 1 1/2 miles in under 12:51 minutes? If so, they should all be expected to do it, not just the men — while not easy, this time is not remotely impossible for a woman. And if not, then the requirement should be scrapped altogether. To lower the standards and undermine meritocracy in the name of diversity is to invite disaster — and, it should be said, to undermine the stature of those female agents who actually could’ve made it on their merits.

So, while we are not at the point where DEI alone is nearly getting presidents killed, the diversity-over-merit mindset has infiltrated even life-and-death positions in our government. And that’s a frightening prospect, even without all the hyperbole.

Brad Polumbo ( @Brad_Polumbo ) is an independent journalist, YouTuber , and co-founder of BASEDPolitics .