EXCLUSIVE: House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is raising concerns about the security of U.S. and world leaders visiting here in the wake of the failed assassination attempt against former President Trump.
“Yeah, I mean, of course,” McCaul told Fox News Digital when asked whether security lapses at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania ,rally made him concerned about the level of security around President Biden as well. “I would say any [leader]… We’ve got Netanyahu coming down tomorrow. That’s a good example.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday as his country continues to be at war in Gaza with the pro-Palestine terror group Hamas.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul is raising concerns about elected officials’ security ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress (Getty Images)
Security preparations are already underway on Capitol Hill, with fencing being seen around the perimeter of the U.S. Capitol as early as Tuesday morning.
But nevertheless, the deadly shooting at Trump’s rally earlier this month, in which one attendee was killed and two people were critically injured, has spurred concerns and conversations about elected officials’ safety. Trump himself was shot in the ear and evacuated by Secret Service agents.
McCaul said of possible tension at Netanyahu’s coming address, “I mean, the ingredients are there for it. It’s ripe for violence.”
He cited the threat of protests by pro-Palestine demonstrators, some of whom have consistently patrolled the Capitol complex in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, confronting pro-Israel lawmakers on both sides. More than 300 protesters were arrested in late October of last year after occupying the Cannon House Office building during a protest.
That same Capitol office building saw a massive protest on Tuesday, just a day before Netanyahu’s speech. Protesters occupied the Cannon building rotunda, chantinng and waving banners before dozens were arrested by police, some detained with zipties. Among the banners were messages reading, “Jews say: Stop the genocide.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Capitol police for more information.
Security fencing was put up around the U.S. Capitol as of Tuesday morning ahead of Netanyahu’s speech the next day (Getty Images)
“This is where the feds and the Capitol Police really need to be working together,” McCaul said.
He was one of several House lawmakers on a bipartisan trip to Butler on Tuesday to tour the area of the attempted assassination. A 20-year-old gunman had opened fire from a rooftop just outside the rally perimeter after being spotted by rally-goers looking suspicious roughly an hour before the shooting.
“The site visits are really important to really understand the dynamics at play, particularly a crime scene like this one, and as I understand we’re the first group to actually go up on the roof of the assassination attempt,” McCaul said.
TRUMP SHOOTING SITE GIVES BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF ‘DISORGANIZED’ RALLY SCENE, WITNESSES SAY
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania after a shooting (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
His first takeaway from the tour, the Texas Republican said, was “how close” the shooter was able to get to Trump’s location. He also noted that there were several nearby areas where security teams could have been stationed but were not.
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“There was very little communication between Secret Service and the local law enforcement,” McCaul also said.
The shooting prompted a bipartisan wave of backlash against U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned from her post on Tuesday.