Secret Service: Candidates Haven't Asked for Our Help

The Secret Service says no Democratic presidential candidate has yet requested protection. The agency said in a statement Thursday that "recent media reporting characterizing the US Secret Service as unprepared for candidate protection is categorically false." It says it is ready to step in once a candidate formally requests protection, the AP reports. The issue arose after protesters briefly interrupted Joe Biden's Super Tuesday celebratory remarks to supporters in Los Angeles. Women holding signs reading "Let Dairy Die" stormed the podium where Biden was speaking Tuesday night, flanked by his wife and sister. Biden moved to the side as security removed the women. A photo of Biden's wife, Jill, pushing one of the protesters away from her husband went viral. Biden's campaign press secretary, Symone Sanders, ran up onto the stage and helped drag one of the protesters away.

Biden seems to think a little help from the Secret Service is a good idea. “I think that that’s something that has to be considered, the more outrageous some of this becomes,” Biden said Thursday, per Politico. "My wife's something else, isn’t she? I wasn’t scared for me. I was worried for Jill. God love her. She’s incredible." To receive protection, a candidate has to make a request to the Department of Homeland Security. After a threat assessment is completed, the decision is made by the top four leaders of Congress: Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy.

(More Secret Service stories.)