Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said she will not resign following the egregious negligence and outright failure at Saturday’s Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Many have called for Cheatle to step down following the assassination attempt on President Trump.

In an interview with ABC News, Cheatle called the assassination attempt “unacceptable.”

“The buck stops with me,” she added.

WATCH:

From The Hill:

Some critics and lawmakers have suggested that Cheatle should resign or be fired over the shooting. ABC’s Pierre Thomas noted that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has “100 percent”confidence in the Secret Service following the shooting.

“I appreciate the secretary’s comments. And we are going to continue to be transparent and communicate with people,” she responded.

When asked if she plans to step down following the incident, she said she does not.

“I do plan to stay on,” she told Thomas in the interview that aired Monday on ABC News’s “World News Tonight.”

She also said her first reaction to the shooting was “shock and concern” for the former president, adding that the shooting “should have never happened.”

“I’ve introduced legislation to hold Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle accountable for the agency’s incompetence and failure to protect President Trump during the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said.

Daily Caller reports:

Since the attack, Republican lawmakers have demanded answers from Cheatle on how the agency failed to prevent the attack, while Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and billionaire Elon Musk have called for her to step down. However, Cheatle told the outlet that she does plan to stay despite the concerns.

Cheatle confirmed the agency had been working with local law enforcement on securing the area during the Pennsylvania rally Saturday, with Secret Service in control of the inner perimeter.

“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”

The shooter, who has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was reported to have been located on an elevated platform seated upon a shed which was outside of the Secret Service’s security perimeter, using an AR-style rifle just 200-300 feet away, according to CBS News.

 

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