James Woods: 'Armed Assassins' Getting Near Trump, Not Harris

Actor James Woods is asking how two armed would-be assassins have been able to get close to former President Donald Trump in recent months, but not near his rival for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris.

"We have two candidates campaigning for the presidency of the United States," he posted on X on Sunday, after the arrest of Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.

"The Secret Service employs 3,200 special agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division officers, and 2000 others, and yet two armed assassins have been within a few hundred yards of one of those candidates," said Woods.

Routh, 58, reportedly hid near Trump's West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course for almost 12 hours on Sunday. He fled after Secret Service agents protecting the former president while he was golfing saw the barrel of Routh's gun and opened fire. He was captured shortly thereafter.

He has been arraigned on charges of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Further charges are possible against him, pending an indictment from a grand jury.

Woods' questions come as members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are pushing for Trump to receive enhanced Secret Service protection, reports Axios.

"All major presidential candidates ought to receive the highest level of presidential [protection]," Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said. "Anything less than maximum protection is a self-inflicted wound that puts our nation's stability at grave risk."

Torres and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced a bill in July to boost security for Trump, President Joe Biden, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after a gunman opened fire on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., called on Biden to issue Trump the "same security levels afforded to a sitting president to ensure his safety," and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said Trump should "have the same security level as the sitting president."

But Sunday, shortly after Routh was arrested, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference that the Secret Service was "limited" to the areas the agency "deems possible."

"We would have had this entire golf course surrounded" if Trump was the sitting president, Bradshaw said.

Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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