Washington DC

Ex-US president Donald Trump has hit out at trolls and critics who directed their anger towards a "brave” and “beautiful” female Secret Service agent following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Speaking at a rally in Minnesota on Saturday (Jul 27), he asserted that the female agent was willing to "take a bullet” for him.

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“There wasn't one that was slow, a woman that was on my right, a beautiful person,” Trump said while defending the woman.

“She got criticised by the fake news because she wasn't tall enough. She was so brave, she was shielding me with everything, she wanted to take a bullet,” the GOP leader further stated.

Criticism on social media

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Following the attempt on Trump's life, several prominent personalities, from Tesla boss Elon Musk to Daily Wire show host Matt Walsh, blasted the Secret Service and even voiced their opposition to hiring female agents.

“There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women,” wrote Walsh on X.

Musk also spoke against hiring a "small person" to defend a large man like Trump.

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“Having a small person as body cover for a large man is like an undersized Speedo at the beach – doesn't cover the subject. Could be a man or a woman, to be clear, just needs to be large enough to do the job,” the US billionaire wrote.

As per available data, around 24 per cent of the total 8,000 Secret Service agency employees are women.

Also read: Trump assassination attempt: It didn`t kill him, but will it make him stronger?

Earlier, several female agents dismissed criticism by saying the road to becoming a presidential protection agent was arduous and involved as intense physical exercise as their male counterparts.

“It goes back to: Can you do what is being asked of you? And if you can, there is no way they should be discriminating against women to say you can’t,” former agent Melanie Burkholder was quoted as saying by NBC News.

(With inputs from agencies)