Biden finally grants RFK Jr. Secret Service protection — after denying him five times

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is finally getting Secret Service protection.

Two days after a lone gunman came within inches of assassinating Donald Trump at campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that Kennedy will get Secret Service protection.

'Thank you to President Biden for granting me Secret Service protection.'

"In light of this weekend's events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.," Mayorkas said from the White House.

Mayorkas claimed that President Joe Biden directed him to grant RFK Jr. the protection "both prior to and after the events of this past weekend."

For RFK Jr., security on the campaign trail is paramount — and personal. His father, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated on the campaign trail in June 1968, and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in November 1963.

Despite that tragic history, the Biden administration denied granting RFK Jr. Secret Service protection at least five times, most recently in March.

The Secret Service is legally required to protect "major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election," the agency explains on its website. Most third-party candidates never receive protection, but RFK Jr. is not your average independent candidate. Indeed, he consistently polls between 9% and 10% nationally — which is not insignificant — and his campaign rallies draw large crowds.

The announcement came Monday shortly after Trump called on the Biden administration to protect RFK Jr.

"In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection — immediately. Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!" Trump said.

One day earlier, a bipartisan group of congressmen vowed to boost security for Biden, Trump, and RFK Jr.

For his part, RFK Jr. said that he is thankful for Biden's decision.

"Thank you to President Biden for granting me Secret Service protection," he said in a statement. "And I am so grateful to Gavin deBecker & Associates for keeping me safe for the last 15 months of my Presidential campaign."

The private security costs for RFK Jr.'s campaign amount to nearly $6 million, Gavin de Becker recently told Politico.

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