Democrat sheriff's excuse for why Trump golf course wasn't fully secured raises glaring questions: 'Security is limited'

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw (D) revealed Sunday how a would-be assassin came within minutes of trying to murder Donald Trump.

Fortunately, a Secret Service agent surveying the Trump International Golf Club course one hole ahead of the former president spotted the would-be assassin's rifle sticking through the chain-link fence on the perimeter of the golf course. But how was the suspected would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, able to come within minutes of taking a shot at Trump?

'I would imagine the next time [Trump] comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter.'

A journalist asked Bradshaw that exact question at a press conference Sunday afternoon.

"How was this able to happen?" the reporter asked.

Bradshaw's response did little to quell concerns about Trump's protection.

"The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight," he responded. "And at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he's not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible."

"I would imagine the next time [Trump] comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter," Bradshaw adding, before praising the Secret Service.

So, according to Bradshaw:

• Trump doesn't receive tighter security — even a total shutdown of the area around his golf course — because he is not the sitting president.
• The Secret Service is in charge of determining where to deploy protection and security assets.

Unfortunately, Bradshaw's response raised more questions than answers.

It's true that Trump is a presidential candidate and not the sitting president, and it's true that sitting presidents receive exponentially more protection than other Secret Service protectees.

But Trump is not just any other run-of-the-mill candidate or protectee: He is also a former president and, more importantly, the survivor of an assassination attempt that happened just two months ago.

This raises the important question: What must Trump — a former president, a major party presidential candidate, and an assassination-attempt survivor — do to receive legitimate protection from the agency statutorily required to protect him?

The first assassination attempt was unfathomable. But a second would-be assassin — who somehow knew of Trump's reportedly "last-minute" decision to play golf on Sunday — lining up to try again? What is going on? Who's in charge? Why is Trump seemingly vulnerable to would-be assassins?

For their part, the Secret Service said little on Sunday about how Routh came within minutes of taking a shot at Trump.

"The threat level is high," said Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros. "We have increased the amount of assets that we've supported. So we are — we live in danger [sic] times."

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