'So brave': Trump defends female Secret Service agent who 'shielded' him

Former President Donald Trump came to the defense of the unidentified female Secret Service agent who "shielded" him during the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.

In the wake of the assassination attempt, numerous conservative commentators criticized the hiring of women by the Secret Service. Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza called the unidentified agent a "DEI" hire.

"Every one of them – there wasn’t one that was slow. A woman who was on my right, she was shielding me," Trump said at a rally on Saturday, Fox News reported.

"Beautiful person – she was shielding me, everything she could. And she got crushed. And she got criticized by the fake news because she wasn’t tall enough."

Trump called the agent "so brave" for "want[ing] to take a bullet" for him, noting she struggled to cover him because of his height.

"Well, you know, she wasn’t tall enough. Because I’m tall, and she wasn’t tall enough."

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk earlier said that agents should be "large enough" to cover a protectee.

"Having a small person as body cover for a large man is like an undersized Speedo at the beach – doesn’t cover the subject."

Daily Wire personality Matt Walsh went one step further, saying there "shouldn't be any women" in the Secret Service.

"If there’s a woman doing a job like this, it 100 percent means that a more qualified male was passed over."