Secret Service ripped for plan to send staff to Disney World LGBTQ summit amid failures protecting Trump

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The United States Secret Service, which has been the subject of heated scrutiny after two assassination attempts against former President Trump that many believe were avoidable, is now facing even more heat as it prepares to send employees to an LGBTQ-focused event at Florida’s Walt Disney World.

The Secret Service is expected to send staff to Disney World on Oct. 7-10 as part of the Out and Equal Workplace Summit that includes breakout sessions, a gala and various events aimed at promoting LGBTQ diversity in the workplace. 

"Individually and as a collective community, we can break down barriers, bring everyone along, and illuminate the way forward where workplaces—and the world—are rich in inclusion and belonging, and innovation and opportunity are unlocked, for LGBTQ+ people and for all," the Out and Equal Workplace Summit’s website states.

"And through the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, we will harness, nurture, and grow that light. We will remind our collective community and the world of the brilliance and power we hold. We will remind them that we are an unstoppable, radiant force."

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The Secret Service is sending staff to an LGBTQ event at Disney World next month. (Getty Images)

A RealClearPolitics reporter posted an email earlier this month reportedly from the Secret Service encouraging agents to nominate others to go on the trip to Florida as part of the agency’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, however, a Secret Service spokesperson clarified, "Due to its current operational tempo, the U.S. Secret Service is limiting participation in conferences to only those personnel who have no impact on current protective operations."

"Two U.S. Secret Service administrative staff members, who are responsible for the implementation of federal special emphasis programs, are attending the 2024 Out & Equal Workplace Summit. These personnel are not law enforcement."

As the Secret Service continues to face various investigations and reports into massive failures in adequately protecting Trump from two assassination attempts, along with serious concerns about the agency’s staffing levels, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told Fox News Digital the event in Florida is the last thing it should be allocating resources toward. 

"To say this is a bad look for the Secret Service might be the understatement of the decade," Schilling said. "There have now been two near-assassinations of a former president in the last two months. The readiness and basic competence of the agency is now rightly under scrutiny. Is this really the right time to be sending staff members to Disney World?"

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Former President Trump was injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Schilling continued, "Even worse is what this says about the priorities of the Secret Service. At a moment when the agency should be focusing on hiring the best personnel possible, they are instead continuing to focus on the failed and unpopular principles of DEI. If the last couple months have made anything clear, it's that the Secret Service doesn't need more nonbinary-identifying agents. Rather, it needs more "good" agents."

A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released on Wednesday ripped into newly revealed missteps that went into the Secret Service's planning and execution of security at the event during which a spectator was killed, two others were seriously wounded and Trump was struck on the ear.

The Secret Service is currently operating with about 400 fewer employees than what Congress has authorized, according to a report this month. 

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Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. (Michael A. McCoy for the Washington Post via Getty Images)

"A person's sexual preferences should have zero bearing on their ability to protect our nation's leaders," Schilling told Fox News Digital. "So, why is the Secret Service spending so much time and resources obsessing over LGBTQ+ issues? This is a serious scandal that the agency needs to address immediately."

Editor’s note: This story’s headline has been updated to clearly reflect that Secret Service staff and not agents are participating in the Disney World summit.