“Fight! Fight! Fight!” vs. “Diversity! Diversity! Diversity!”
Perhaps the women we saw in Trump’s security detail were new recruits helping Cheatle reach her target of 30% women by 2030. They looked amateur, panicked, and unpracticed. One of the women attempting to remove Trump from the stage was simply too small, and hesitant, for the task; she looked at one point as if she were engaged in a group hug at a United Church reconciliation ceremony. (As many have noted, her small stature enabled Trump’s fist-raised gesture of masculine defiance and his exhilarating “Fight! Fight! Fight!”). As Trump was being taken into the security vehicle, the four women surrounding the car looked jumpy and confused, scared and awkward. One woman was visibly unable to holster her gun. I’ve never seen so many women guarding a former president, and I’ve never seen so many women obviously incapable.
The simple fact is that women have no place on the front lines of any security, policing, firefighting, or military operation. Let them serve in support roles with honor where they have the ability and drive. But let’s stop pretending they should or can do men’s jobs.