A former U.S. Marshals task force member joined the chorus of bipartisan lawmakers in demanding that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resign after her “deplorable” House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday about the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, this month.

“I think nine days out for her to not visit the scene as director where lives were lost is deplorable,” Terry Mikels, a former U.S. Marshals Service task force officer and a personal protection specialist with Executive Security Concepts, told Fox News Digital.

Mikels skewered Cheatle after the agency’s director revealed at Monday’s hearing that she did not read a report detailing if the advance team for the rally site had enough resources.

“While that may not be her actual job, for her not to be apprised of what is going on is just so negligent,” he said.

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Crooks’ opportunity to scope out the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds venue beforehand and then successfully climb on top of a nearby roof showed “how easy it is,” Mikels said.

“What they’ve done, in my opinion, is they just showed any potential persons who want to do harm how easy it is,” he said. “Anybody could have climbed on that roof.”

Mikels said such a national security failure “opens the doors” for people who want their “five minutes of fame.”

“It opens the doors for so many potential people who are looking for their five minutes of fame.”

— Terry Mikels, former U.S. Marshals Service task force member

“It opens the doors for so many potential people who are looking for their five minutes of fame to do something nefarious,” he said, “because they realize how untrained and unprepared this detail was.”

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Mikels’ said Cheatle’s failure at leading an agency whose purpose is to protect the nation’s leaders demands responsibility.

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“I don’t think she has a win,” he said. “Her biggest win today was apologizing to President Trump, to the family of the slain fire chief and the two victims and taking responsibility.”

“There is no reason for this level of complete negligence.”

— Terry Mikels, former U.S. Marshals Service task force member

“Like she said, this is completely deplorable, and there is no reason for this level of complete negligence,” Mikel said. “And she needs to be held accountable.”

Mikels said Cheatle appeared unable to answer “basic questions.”

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“We can’t wait 90 days or six months for everybody to get prepared. We got a presidential election coming up, the Democratic National Convention, and people need to be ready yesterday.”

The Secret Service did not return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Former President Trump and his 2024 running mate JD Vance sat down for their first joint interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday following the assassination attempt on the GOP nominee’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., last week.

Trump told “Jesse Watters Primetime” embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came to see him in the days following the assassination attempt.

“It went very nicely. She was very nice, I thought. But, you know, somebody should have made sure there was nobody on that roof,” he said. 

The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots at the former president from the rooftop of a building roughly 130 yards away. 

Investigators are piecing together how the 20-year-old local resident was able to gain a clear line of sight at Trump. Eyewitness Michael Difrischia filmed Crooks lying down on top of the American Glass Research building, looking down the sights of an AR-style rifle.

“I saw a younger kid running through the crowd and somebody had spoke[n] up [and] said the guy had a gun,” Difrischia told “The Ingraham Angle” last week.

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“The problem was the police officers were too close to the building. They could not see him,” he added. “We were trying to tell them he’s right there, he’s right there, but they just couldn’t see him.”

Other eyewitnesses said they tried to warn police officers of a shooter before he fired the shots that grazed Trump’s ear, killed former Pennsylvania fire chief Corey Comperatore and injured David Dutch and James Copenhaven.

Trump told Watters he was surprised at how close Crooks was able to get. 

“They said it’s really, it’s a — a bad shot would usually hit the target. And so I mean, it’s got to be, somebody’s got to be there. And it’s essentially a flat roof. I mean, I noticed that she [Cheatle] said, well, this is a slope roof where you think of like a barn where you have, this thing had just a little — a little upswing in it, a few degrees. This was a not — it essentially was a flat roof,” he said. 

Cheatle told ABC News last week the building the alleged shooter was on top of had a “sloped roof at its highest point.” “And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” she said. 

Trump said he believes Cheatle was given “false information” when she mentioned the roof’s slope as a reason why there weren’t any Secret Service agents atop the building.

The 2024 Republican nominee questioned why he wasn’t told to stay off the stage for 5-20 minutes before he came out and started speaking if there were concerns about a potential threat. 

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“You have to answer why couldn’t I have stayed off the stage for five minutes while they do their work? Why couldn’t, you know, how does a situation happen where a roof that’s plainly in sight from the location where I was speaking… why would somebody not have seen that?” he asked.

Cheatle appeared on Capitol Hill Monday to answer for the security failures that almost led to the assassination of a former president. 

She acknowledged the attempt on Trump’s life was the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades. 

Two ranking members of the House Oversight Committee, Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called on Cheatle to resign from her post in a letter following her testimony, saying she failed to “provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures.”

Trump praised the actions of his Secret Service agents, who rushed to cover him after shots rang out at his rally.

He told Watters his ear is healing and getting better. “We’re getting down to the small bandages. But it was a nasty one. And it was nasty, period. That was exactly one week ago from today, exactly. And, you know, when you think about it, it’s — that’s been a lot of territory covered,” he said. 

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“Who — who would’ve thought this was going to be happening? But it happened. And I got very lucky, or God, I think it was God, actually.”

Heads up America: Democrats are as phony as they are dishonest. All those accolades pouring in about Joe Biden being an “historic” president and a “great public servant”? Phony. Even before his catastrophic debate Biden’s approval ratings were in the gutter. 

Gushing over candidate Kamala Harris? Also phony. Democrats have been hand-wringing for months about how they could eject President Biden but not allow the unpopular V.P. to take his place. They are only coalescing around her now because they are panicked that an open selection process would throw their party into total disarray.

Kamala Harris has been one of Joe Biden’s most stalwart defenders, lying brazenly for months about his fitness to serve as president for another four years. 

As his vice president, Harris has played a pivotal role in perpetrating one of the greatest political deceptions ever, a deception that has undermined confidence in our political system and put our country at risk. For this alone, she is disqualified from ever serving as this nation’s commander-in-chief.

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Still, Republicans need to steel themselves: Democrats are about to put on an incredible show. No, I don’t mean the Democratic Convention in Chicago, which starts on August 19. I mean the tidal wave of money and faux enthusiasm which is about to flow into the campaign to elect Kamala Harris. Democrats everywhere will inundate the airwaves with excited testimonials about Harris’ candidacy; MSNBC hosts will be positively giddy.

Republicans should take a deep breath and remember: it’s the same Kamala Harris. The only reason the V.P. looks good is that she is now being compared – not to Donald Trump – but to Joe Biden. Rather than a shell of a man who cannot complete a sentence or find his way off the stage, the Democrats can now run a person who can unfortunately complete not just one sentence but quite often a salad full of sentences, many of which turn out to be meaningless.

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Is Kamala better than Joe? Absolutely. 

Is she, on her own merits, a good candidate? Absolutely not.

Consider:

1. Kamala Harris is the face of the open border and the 10 million people who have entered the country illegally under the Biden-Harris administration. 

This is the number one issue for millions of voters. She was the point person who was supposed to fix the mess caused by Joe Biden, who reversed Trump policies key to limiting the migrant flow across our border, and she flopped. She never even took it seriously. In an iconic interview early on, when asked by NBC’s Lester Holt whether she had gone to the border, she claimed she had been and when called out for that lie, she laughed hysterically, said she didn’t understand what the reporter was getting at and declared she hadn’t been to Europe, either. Count on it; we’ll be seeing that clueless exchange in Trump/Vance ads, a lot. 

2. Harris flamed out of the Democratic primary race in 2020 before the Iowa caucuses, having garnered exactly zero delegates and before a single vote was cast. 

She had enjoyed a brief bump in her polling after launching a bold attack against candidate Joe Biden during the first primary debate, accusing him of having historically opposed busing. But during her campaign she flip-flopped on then-popular ideas like “Medicare for All”, and failed to craft a coherent message on other issues — including busing. She also failed to raise money. Her campaign was poorly managed and the advantage she was expected to have as a woman of color never materialized. A few months before she exited the primaries a Quinnipiac poll showed her winning only 1% of the Black vote. 

3. Despite numerous efforts by the White House to rebrand Harris, the V.P. never achieved traction. 

The reinventions of Harris were in some cases comical – for example, calling the Second Gentleman Douglas instead of Doug, hoping some gravitas would rub off on the giggling V.P. Based on extensive interviews, Politico described her office as an “abusive environment” and reported that Harris “refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.”     

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4. Even as Joe Biden began to lose support within his own party, few regarded Harris as an attractive replacement. 

For instance, by March of 2023, nearly half of Democrats did not want Biden to seek another term, but only 13% of the party thought Kamala should take his place. Harris was considered so toxic that Nikki Haley made the threat of her becoming president central to her campaign. Her refrain that “A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris” was not only to alert voters to Joe Biden’s advanced age and infirmities, it was also a reminder – and warning — that should Biden have to step aside, Harris would be next in line. Haley knew many would consider that a significant threat; she was right. 

5. As voters soured on Biden, and with Haley’s warnings making voters anxious, the media was enlisted last year to give Harris a boost in the lead-up to the reelection campaign. 

One heroic effort came from Politico, which about a year ago ran this intriguing headline: “Why Kamala Harris is a Better VP than You Think.” Professor Julia Azari unsuccessfully tried to explain away Harris’ dismal performance, and in frustration suggests that at least the V.P. is the spokesperson for underrepresented groups. But, even she has to concede that Harris is not popular with Black voters.

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Govs. Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and others are declining to run against the veep for the Democratic nomination. 

Is that a sign of support? A sign that Democrats are unified in their enthusiasm for Harris? Hardly. Aspiring Democrats undoubtedly figure Kamala Harris will go down in flames in November, leaving the field open for them in 2028. 

They will be right.

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FIRST ON FOX: After President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, two doctors shared thoughts with Fox News Digital about what this means in terms of Biden’s ongoing cognitive health. 

Looking back, some experts believe the path to Biden’s dropout began with what was widely described as a disastrous debate performance in late June, during which the president seemed to display an unclear train of thought and a lack of coherence.

“President Biden has shown signs of cognitive impairment for many years,” Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon who specializes in cognitive function, told Fox News Digital on Sunday. He has not treated Biden or advised him. 

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“It is medically probable that when he took office in 2020, he was afflicted by mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a gateway syndrome to Alzheimer’s disease and potentially Parkinsonism (not necessarily Parkinson’s disease itself),” Osborn said. 

“And he has only deteriorated since then, as is typical of those with neurodegenerative diseases.”

‘Prudent’ decision

Given signs of his “ailing cognitive status, President Biden’s decision to step down from the race seems prudent,” said Osborn, expressing his professional opinion.

“In my opinion, he is unfit to run the country and is unsuitable for his duties as commander-in-chief,” he said.

“By stepping down, President Biden can prioritize his health and potentially mitigate further cognitive decline, while also ensuring the leadership role is filled by someone fully capable of handling the demanding responsibilities of the position.”

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Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, said he believes Biden’s decision is best for the president’s health.

“The stress of the race could have definitely made cognition worse — but it will progress anyway, and fitness is a big concern,” the doctor told Fox News Digital on Sunday. He has not examined or treated Biden. 

Osborn also emphasized that remaining in the presidential race could have been “detrimental” to Biden’s mental and physical health. 

“Chronic stress releases cortisol, the dominant stress hormone of the body, which can negatively impact the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, leading to further deterioration,” Osborn told Fox News Digital.

“In my opinion, he is unfit to run the country and is unsuitable for his duties as commander-in-chief.” 

— Neurosurgeon Dr. Brett Osborn

Biden’s past brain surgeries could also have affected his cognitive function, according to Osborn.

“It is likely that the combination of the two brain surgeries and his [possible] neurodegenerative diseases, plus the added stress of the Oval Office, have markedly accelerated the deterioration of his already ailing brain,” he said.

“Another term [was] not even a consideration, in my opinion. By 2028, he will categorically be a ‘nursing home patient.’”

In addition to cognitive concerns, the doctors also discussed Biden’s recent bout with COVID-19.

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“Post-COVID syndromes and long COVID have been shown to affect underlying neurological conditions,” Siegel warned. 

“This can also come from recurrent COVID.”

Regarding COVID, Osborn noted that the virus has been shown to have potential long-term effects on cognitive function, often referred to as “brain fog.” 

“These effects can include difficulties with memory, attention and executive function,” he said. 

“Post-COVID syndromes and long COVID have been shown to affect underlying neurological conditions.”

— Dr. Marc Siegel

“In someone with pre-existing cognitive issues like President Biden, contracting COVID-19 could exacerbate these symptoms – via neuroinflammation – and lead to a more rapid decline.”

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Osborn also suggested that the president’s contracting COVID was used as an “exit strategy.”

“It accelerated his, but more likely their, decision to vacate his run for the presidency,” the doctor surmised.

Health as a qualifying factor

Along with meeting the official requirements — that the president must be a natural-born citizen, must be at least 35 years of age, and must have lived in the country for at least 14 years — both doctors agreed that the individual should also be physically and cognitively healthy.

“It is extremely important,” Siegel told Fox News Digital. “We have a right to it as a country.”

The role of president involves making complex and high-stakes decisions, often under significant pressure, Osborn noted. 

“Cognitive health is essential for clear thinking, effective communication and sound decision-making, all things President Biden lacks,” he said, sharing his viewpoint. 

“They should admit to what they know and reveal full neurological results.”

— Dr. Marc Siegel

Physical health is also essential, Osborn said, as the role also requires long hours, frequent travel and crisis management.

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“A healthy president is better equipped to handle the demands of the office and to lead the nation effectively through various challenges,” he added.

Need ‘full health disclosures’

In light of Biden’s announcement to exit the race, Siegel said the decision “should be accompanied by a full health disclosure.”

He said, “They should admit to what they know and reveal full neurological results.”

The situation highlights the need for thorough health evaluations for presidential candidates – and sitting presidents — to ensure they can perform their required duties, according to Osborn. 

“Routine testing – physical and mental – should be made non-negotiable instead of being thwarted by the governing party,” he said. 

“The allowance of President Biden’s mental incompetence for four years is an embarrassment to the United States government, and the world has borne witness.”

In response to outreach from Fox News Digital, the White House press office stated that “health was not a factor” in the president’s decision to withdraw from the race. 

Biden is continuing his course of Paxlovid and his COVID symptoms have “significantly” improved, according to the president’s physician. 

“He looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people,” said the White House in its statement. 

On July 21, the White House released the most recent health update from the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor.

O’Connor also noted that Biden is continuing his course of Paxlovid and that his COVID symptoms have “significantly” improved. The doctor also stated that Biden’s vital signs are normal, and his lungs remain clear.

Former President Donald Trump‘s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, returned to Middletown, Ohio, on Monday as the senator’s hometown sits at the crossroads of the heartland crisis that has shaped American politics in recent decades. 

“This town was so good to me,” the GOP senator said during a rally at Middletown High School in Ohio, from which he graduated in 2003.

“I came from Middletown, Ohio. I’m proud of it,” he said, “and I’ll never forget where I came from.”

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Middletown has been a heavy-industry hub since the first steelmaker arrived in 1900. Recent history and discussions with local residents paint the picture of a Middle American community that appears to have survived Rust Belt decay better than most. 

Yet Middletown also faces the challenges of a post-industrial small town and rural America that has felt ignored by Washington, D.C. elites for decades. 

Even with a steel-mill anchor, Middletown trails the nation in several measures of success and opportunity.

Simmering discontent fueled by similar situations has fomented the political upheaval captured by Trump’s Make America Great Again revolution.

“Middletown is a working, blue-collar community more than anything,” Zachary Johnson, a clerk at Central Pastry, told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

“I came from Middletown, Ohio. I’m proud of it, and I’ll never forget where I came from.”

Vance shouted out Central Pastry, a 75-year-old family-owned local landmark bakery, during his rally Monday.

Here’s a look at the city “that made” Vance. 

Middletown is a classic Rust Belt, steel-making city

Steelmaker Armco arrived in Middletown in 1900, giving the city of 51,000 residents today its industrial heartland identity.

“We are a town that has a rich history in steel manufacturing,” Middletown communications director Clayton Castle told Fox News Digital. 

Armco later became AK Steel. 

It was acquired in 2020 by Cleveland-Cliffs, which touts itself online as the “largest flat-rolled steel company in North America and a leading supplier of automotive-grade steel.”

It operates Middletown Works, which is the largest employer in the city, said Castle. 

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The city spokesperson added, “Most people, when you ask them — they work themselves or know somebody who works or worked in a steel factory at some point. Steel is ingrained in the fabric of our community.”

Vance’s own grandfather found work at Armco. 

Middletown highlights Ohio’s clout as political bell cow

Ohioans voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election from 1964 to 2016.

The streak ended in 2020, when Trump earned a sizable 53% to 45% victory in Ohio over national winner Joe Biden.

Middletown represents the complex mix of cultures and urban-rural contrasts that make Ohio an important bellwether of American political trends and a top prize in presidential politics. 

It’s located 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati and 20 miles southwest of Dayton. 

The city developed along the east bank of the Great Miami River; the west bank remains almost completely rural.

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Interstate 75, which connects Miami, Florida, to Chicago, Illinois, before finally ending on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, passes just east of downtown Middletown.

Middletown is MAGA country

Middletown is located in Butler County, which broke even heavier for Trump in 2020 than did wider Ohio. 

More than 61% of voters in the county pulled the lever for Trump in the last presidential election, compared with just 37% voting for Biden. 

Local steelmaker plans $1.8B investment in Middletown, with federal aid

The conundrum caused by the ever-growing role of government and environmental regulations in big business is evident in a recent announcement by Cleveland-Cliffs that it’s investing $1.3 billion in its Middletown foundry – with an additional $500 million from the Department of Energy. 

“This investment will secure 2,500 jobs at Middletown Works, where the unionized workforce is represented by the International Association of Machinists,” the Journal-News of Butler County reported in March. 

“This is absolutely huge for the men and women who work here, and for the community,” Shawn Coffey, union president of Local 1943, told the local publication. 

The investment is to “accelerate industrial decarbonization technologies” and create “substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” Cleveland-Cliffs said in a March statement.

Middletown is not the Appalachia chronicled in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Vance’s rise to national prominence came with the success of his 2016 autobiography and cultural critique “Hillbilly Elegy,” which offers a stark look at the struggles and fates of families and communities of rural Appalachia — including his own. 

“Hillbilly Elegy” became a Ron Howard-directed movie in 2020. This past weekend it soared back into the Top 10 list of Netflix films, the result of Trump’s VP pick of Vance and the senator’s speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee late last week. 

The book is based upon his family’s heritage in rural Jackson, Kentucky. 

It’s about 60 miles southwest of Butcher Hollow, Kentucky — made famous as the home of country music queen and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” Loretta Lynn.

As Vance notes in his bestselling book, his great-grandparents left the hills of eastern Kentucky seeking a better life in industrial Middletown. 

Jackson, Kentucky remains Vance’s ‘home’

Vance lived most of his childhood in Middletown, moving from house to house with a mother suffering from addiction. 

He spent summers with his grandmother – his “Mamaw” – in Jackson, living among and observing the cultural decay of poor, rural America that became the source of “Hillbilly Elegy.” 

He explained the complicated existence in the book. 

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“My address is where I spent most of my time with my mother and sister, wherever that might be. But my home never changed: my great-grandmother’s house, in the holler, in Jackson, Kentucky.”

Vance called Middletown, Ohio ‘Middletucky’

Middletown is 200 miles north of Jackson. 

But, according to Vance, the two communities are tightly connected by culture, values and small-community struggles.

“Thanks to the massive migration from the poorest regions of Appalachia to places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois, hillbilly values spread widely along with hillbilly people,” Vance wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy.”

“Indeed, Kentucky transplants and their children are so prominent in Middletown, Ohio (where I grew up) that as kids we derisively called it ‘Middletucky.’ People have struggled to get out of Jackson for decades; now they struggle to escape Middletown.”

Middletown closely mirrors America’s makeup

The city’s population is 78.4% White and 11.8% Black, compared with 75.3% and 13.7% nationally, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. 

Middletown has a lower population of Asian, Hispanic, Native and foreign-born citizens than the United States as a whole. 

But its residents are more likely to be multiracial: 6.6% of Middletowners are of two or more races, compared with just 3.1% nationally. 

About 21% of the city’s residents are under age 18, and 18% are over 65, almost exactly the same as national figures.

Middletown trails in higher education and income

The 2020 U.S. Census reports that 34.3% of Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education; in Middletown, that figure is only 16.1%. 

The median household income in Middletown is $50,457, well behind the national figure of $75,149; meanwhile, 19.2% of Middletown residents live in poverty, compared with 11.5% nationwide. 

Middletown punches above its weight class in pro sports

The small city has produced an impressive number of hometown heroes who could “escape Middletown” through excellence in athletics.

Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber, UFC fighter and Olympic Gold Medalist Kayla Harrison, basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter all were raised in Middletown.

The Middies football team plays on Cris Carter Field at Barnitz Stadium. 

Brooklyn Decker, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model and wife of retired tennis star Andy Roddick, also once called Middletown home, according to community spokesperson Castle.

‘Ugly’ donut is rumored to be Vance’s favorite local sweet

Leave it to an old-school steel city to embrace an “ugly” donut. 

A signature sweet sold at Central Pastry is reportedly Vance’s favorite, according to Central Pastry’s Johnson, a lifelong Middletown resident. 

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The buttery, yellow-cake donut is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside — and is coated in a sugary glaze.

Vance offered a hopeful message for Middletown’s future

The candidate for vice president said on Monday that the community has plenty to offer for the future. 

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“While my life wasn’t all that different from a lot of people who grew up in Middletown, Ohio, it was tough, but it was surrounded by loving people, and it was surrounded by something that, if we don’t fight, is not going to be around for the next generation of kids,” he said in his remarks at his high school. 

“And that’s opportunity. Middletown had an opportunity — and we’ve got to make sure it’s there for the next generation.” 

“The community can wrap its arms around someone who is from here and who could possibly have a big impact on our country.”

Johnson, the clerk at locally beloved Central Pastry, echoed the message in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“There are many opportunities here and Middletown is really focused on building community,” he said.

“You see it really coming together with sporting events and even stuff like today with J.D. Vance’s rally,” he also said. 

“The community can wrap its arms around someone who is from here and who could possibly have a big impact on our country and put Middletown on the map. This could be huge for us.”