The United States Secret Service has hit out at the New York Times for a fictional story the paper published in which Secret Service agents participate in an assassination attempt against the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
While mainstream media (including the New York Times) blamed the pipe bomb scare – in which several high profile figures were sent explosives in the mail last week – on the President’s rhetoric, the Times upped the ante by soliciting and publishing Trump-Russia themed stories that included depictions of Trump’s death.
Such fiction has since been dubbed “Trump Assassination Porn”.
The US Secret Service has blasted the publication for publishing one such story involving their agency, last Friday. The story, written by Zoe Sharp, goes as follows:
“When it was time, he went downstairs, took his place in the lobby before the entourage appeared. The hotel staff had been lined up to see their boss, the president, go by. A few of them applauded. Most did not.
“The president didn’t seem to notice. He waved, in his desultory fashion. The Secret Service agents clustered around him, ushered him toward the armored limo idling outside at the curb.
“The Russian waited until they were a few steps past before he drew the gun. He sighted on the center of the president’s back, and squeezed the trigger.
“The Makarov misfired.
“The Secret Service agent at the president’s shoulder heard the click, spun into a crouch. He registered the scene instantly, drawing his own weapon with razor-edge reflexes.
“The Russian tasted failure. He closed his eyes and waited to pay the cost.
“It did not come.
“He opened his eyes. The Secret Service agent stood before him, presenting his Glock, butt first.
““Here,” the agent said politely. “Use mine…””
Calling the fictional account “outrageous,” a Secret Service spokesperson told Fox News that such stories are an “insult to the men and women of this agency”:
“While we understand this is a work of fiction, the insinuation that the U.S. Secret Service would participate in the assassination of a president is outrageous and an insult to the men and women of this agency. The U.S. Secret Service prides itself on being an apolitical agency with a long and distinguished history of protecting our nation’s elected officials.”