Washington: The US homeland security chief hit back Saturday at misogynistic attacks on the women Secret Service agents who threw themselves into the line of fire to protect Donald Trump from a would-be assassin.
"These assertions are baseless and insulting," Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement after the some on the US political right accused the Secret Service of "woke" hiring practices they say nearly got the former president killed.
He praised the "highly skilled and trained" women serving at every level of law enforcement across the country for risking "their lives on the front lines for the safety and security of others."
"They are brave and selfless patriots who deserve our gratitude and respect," he wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security will "with great pride, focus and devotion to mission, continue to recruit, retain and elevate women in our law enforcement ranks. Our Department will be the better for it, and our country more secure," he continued.
In the week since a gunman opened fire during a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, killing one bystander, wounding two others and leaving the Republican bloodied but alive, right-wingers have unleashed a torrent of criticism on the Secret Service for having women in its ranks.
Several women can be seen among the black-suited, sunglasses-clad agents racing to shield Trump with their bodies as the gunshots ring out at the rally, before hustling him from the stage and into a waiting car and safety.
But they, along with their boss Kimberly Cheatle -- only the second-ever woman director of the federal agency tasked with protecting presidents current, former and would-be -- are now caught in the intense scrutiny over the nearly catastrophic attack.
"There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women," right-wing activist Matt Walsh wrote on X, in one typical post.
Many of the attacks cited DEI -- diversity, equity and inclusivity -- hiring practices that some Republicans have long criticized as discriminating against white people, white men in particular.
"The results of DEI. DEI got someone killed," read one post on the popular Libs of TikTok account.
The Secret Service has defended itself against such accusations in the past, with a spokesman telling US media just weeks before the assassination attempt that agents "are held to the highest professional standards... at no time has the agency lowered these standards."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)