Secret Service 'Aware' of Comedian George Lopez's Comment About Trump Bounty
The Secret Service says it is “aware” of comedian George Lopez’s controversial comment about a reported bounty placed on President Donald Trump’s head.
Trump drew the Iranian government’s ire by ordering a drone strike last week that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
During an Iranian state TV broadcast of Soleimani’s funeral procession, a eulogist suggested crowdfunding an $80 million bounty for whoever kills Trump, according to the U.K. news outlet The Week.
“We are 80 million Iranians, if each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us [Trump’s] head with that amount,” the eulogist said.
Replying to an Instagram post about the reported $80 million bounty, Lopez wrote: “We’ll do it for half.”
While the Secret Service would not go into specifics, the agency tasked with protecting the president said it is “aware” of Lopez’s post.
“The Secret Service is aware of the [post] made by Mr. Lopez,” an agency representative said in a statement to The Daily Caller.
“The Secret Service takes all threats against the President and or any of our protectees seriously, and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence,” the statement went on.
Moreover, law enforcement sources told TMZ that the Secret Service was working to ascertain the legitimacy of Lopez’s apparent threat against Trump.
While Iran’s reported $80 million bounty on Trump appears to have just been a crowdfunding gimmick, some Iranian officials have issued threats against the U.S. in the wake of Soleimani’s death.
On Sunday, Abolfazl Abutorabi, a member of Iran’s parliament, vowed to take Iran’s revenge of Soleimani’s death to American soil.
“We can attack the White House itself, we can respond to them on the American soil. We have the power, and God willing we will respond in an appropriate time,” he said.
“This is a declaration of war, which means if you hesitate you lose. When someone declares war do you want to respond to the bullets with flowers? They will shoot you in the head.”
But Trump has promised swift retaliation if Iran strikes.
These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
“These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner,” the president tweeted Sunday. “Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
