Mast calls Mar-a-Lago intrusion an 'assassination attempt,' faults funding for Secret Service

WASHINGTON — After an overnight intrusion at Mar-a-Lago, Congressman Brian Mast said he regarded the incident as an assassination attempt and criticized what he described as a lack of funding for protective services.

Asked about the episode, the host said a shooter had arrived at Mar-a-Lago armed with a shotgun and a gas can. Mast praised local law enforcement, saying, "We have the best possible sheriff's department anywhere across the country." He added that Secret Service agents are "working" despite funding issues and asserted that those funding shortfalls stem from Democrats not funding the Department of Homeland Security, a contention he presented as a cause of risk to agents.

When asked whether he believed the incident constituted an assassination attempt, Mast replied, "Absolutely. If somebody is coming to the president's home with a firearm, with a a gas can, with something incendiary or something explosive or anything else, you have to believe they have an intent to conduct an attack against the President of The United States Of America..." Mast framed the remark as an assessment of intent based on the items the intruder carried.

The interview did not include law-enforcement confirmation of motives, nor did it include a Secret Service statement. Mast's attribution of funding responsibility to a political party was presented as his assertion; the program did not present documentary evidence of the funding chain in the interview.