The Daily Signal - Head of Secret Service Resigns, Harris Holds First Campaign Rally, Sen. Bob Menendez to Step Down | July 23

Starting point is 00:00:02 The head of the Secret Service is out. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Tuesday, July 23rd. The head of the Secret Service resigned today. Director Kimberly Cheetle announced her resignation one day after she testified before members of Congress on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project first broke the news just before 10.30 a.m. today. The Oversight Project obtained an email that Cheetel sent to... to the Secret Service staff. In that email, she said, as your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse, referring to that assassination attempt on Trump. She went on to say, in light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for her resignation after that attempted assassination on Trump, and members of the House Oversight Committee spent

Starting point is 00:01:11 nearly five hours questioning Cheatel on Monday. Neither Republicans or Democrat lawmakers appeared to be very satisfied with the answers that Cheeto gave during that hearing or lack of answers. So how exactly did Trump and Biden react to this news that Cheetaheel is stepping down? Fox News Digital had an exclusive interview with Trump after the announcement and Trump said Cheetah never gave me proper protection, so I ended up having to take a bullet for democracy. And Trump continued, saying many requests were made by on-site secret service for more people, always with a turn down or no response. I have the biggest crowds in history, according to Trump, and they should be treated accordingly. Trump also told Fox News Digital, though, that big improvements have been made over the last week.

Starting point is 00:02:00 So what was Biden's response? Well, the president responded to Cheetos's resignation by thanking her for her public service. Biden said she has selflessly dedicated and risk her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service. We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service under our administration, and we are grateful for her service to our family. House Speaker Mike Johnson also weighed in on the path forward for the Secret Service immediately following the news of Cheetos resignation. Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people's faith and trust. in the Secret Service as an agency. It has an incredibly important responsibility in protecting presidents, former presidents, and other officials in the executive branch. And we've got a lot of

Starting point is 00:02:48 work to do. Johnson went on to say that he hopes that whoever the interim Secret Service Director is will be very sober-minded in the task ahead as the investigation continues into what exactly went wrong during that assassination attempt on Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris has received several significant endorsements in the last 24 hours. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have both endorsed Harris and both George Clooney and Melinda French Gates, former wife of Bill Gates, have also endorsed Harris. Harris held her first rally for president this afternoon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and she had some big news to share with the crowd there. So, Wisconsin, I am told, as of this morning, that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. Harris does appear to have won the support of enough delegates

Starting point is 00:03:46 to clinch the Democratic Party nomination. An unofficial Associated Press survey found that Harris has secured 2,887 delegates, and only 1,97 delegates are needed to receive the nomination. Delicates could still change their mind, but this is certainly a good sign for Harris. During her campaign rally today, Harris said that she's going to work to unite the Democratic Party. She also touted her record as a prosecutor and revealed how she likely plans to message against Trump. Take a listen. I was elected attorney general of the state of California, and I was a courtroom prosecutor before them. And in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.

Starting point is 00:04:31 kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters, who ripped off consumers, cheaters, who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type. Democrats are moving ahead with plans to hold a virtual vote with delegates in early August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention. The roll call vote is important because it would mean that Democrats could arrive at the convention in Chicago on August 19th, already knowing who their candidate is. President Biden returned to the White House this afternoon after spending the last several days isolating in Delaware with COVID.

Starting point is 00:05:25 This is Biden's first time back at the White House since he announced that he's stepping out of the race, and tomorrow night he's going to address the nation around 8 p.m. Biden wrote on X today that he will address the nation from the Oval Office on what lies ahead and how I will finish the job for the American people. Meanwhile, some GOP lawmakers are calling for Biden's cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president from office right now. Missouri Republican Senator Eric Schmidt on Monday sent a letter to Biden's cabinet urging them to take action.

Starting point is 00:05:59 Schmidt told Fox News that Joe Biden has decided he isn't capable of being a candidate in so doing, his admission also means he cannot serve as president. Therefore, it is in the best immediate interest of the safety of the United States for Joe Biden to resign from office or face removal under the 25th Amendment. We will be watching what the president has to say on Wednesday night during his speech, but there is no indication that Biden has any plans to leave before his term is over. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, D.C., for a few. days, and he's going to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. It is common for the vice president to preside over such a joint session, but Kamala Harris will not be in attendance. Instead, Harris is traveling to Indianapolis for an event that was

Starting point is 00:06:50 scheduled before the speech was scheduled. The Washington Post reports that Harris's aides say that her absence should not be interpreted as a change in her position towards Israel. However, Fox News reports that when Harris's office was asked if she would have agreed to reside over Netanyahu's address, if she were going to be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, an aide to the vice president said they would not answer hypothetical questions. Harris is reportedly going to meet with Netanyahu later this week. Meanwhile, in Israel, ceasefire talks are still in the works. The Associated Press reports that Netanyahu has indicated that a ceasefire deal may be coming that would also, free dozens of hostages. Stay tuned. New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez plans to resign from the Senate in August. Menendez was convicted earlier this month on federal corruption and bribery charges.

Starting point is 00:07:45 The jury convicted him on all the charges that he faced related to his involvement in bribery schemes that involved New Jersey businessmen and the Egyptian government. Democrat senators have called on Menendez to step down and the Senate Ethics Committee is also investigating the senator. Menendez is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29th. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here for the Daily Signal's top news. If you have not had the chance, be sure to check out our morning show where we bring you interviews with lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Tomorrow morning, I am sitting down with Professor Matthew Goodwin. He's a professor of politics and international

Starting point is 00:08:26 relations at the University of Kent and a senior fellow at at the Legatim Institute. And he gives us what the UK's perspective is right now on all of the news that's happening in the United States from Biden withdrawing from the race to potentially Kamala Harris being the Democrat nominee. We also dig in to the recent election in the UK that was a major loss for conservatives there

Starting point is 00:08:52 and what that means for the future of the United Kingdom. Be sure to catch that conversation tomorrow morning and hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on new shows from the Daily Signal podcast. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, Mary Margaret O'Lohan, and Elizabeth Mitchell.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph Von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit Daily Signal. signal.com.

The Daily Signal - Head of Secret Service Resigns, Harris Holds First Campaign Rally, Sen. Bob Menendez to Step Down | July 23

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