The buck stops with her, but she refuses to take responsibility for her failures.
During a portion of an interview with ABC News that was aired on Monday’s broadcast of “World News Tonight,” Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stated that the assassination attempt on 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump “should have never happened” and “The buck stops with me,” but she does plan to stay in her position.
Cheatle said, “This is an event that should have never happened.”
ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas then asked, “Who is most responsible for this happening?”
Cheatle responded, “What I would say is, the Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former President.”
Thomas followed up, “So, the buck stops with you?”
Cheatle answered, “The buck stops with me, I am the Director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable, and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Thomas then said, “The president and homeland security secretary said today they had 100% confidence in you, but there are some members of Congress calling on you to resign.”
Cheatle responded, “I appreciate the secretary’s comments, and we’re going to continue to be transparent and communicate with people.”
Thomas then asked, “Do you plan to stay on, absolutely?”
Cheatle answered, “I do plan to stay on.”
What’s fascinating to me is the way men know how women are highly reluctant to take responsibility for anything in their personal lives, and yet usually somehow fail to anticipate that women will tend to exhibit precisely the same behavior in their professional lives. That’s the reason for all those meetings, after all, to occlude and spread out the perceived responsibility for any corporate decision, no matter how trivial.
If we all agree it’s a good idea, then no one needs to be held accountable when it fails.
Even if the attempted assassination wasn’t a green flag – and at a minimum, it was a green flag – there is no way that Director Cheatle was ever going to resign her office despite her agency’s egregious and comprehensive failure. Unfortunately, the feminization of the boardroom is such that men no longer expect to be accountable for their executive failures either.
The buck never stops with anyone anymore.