Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) suggested the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was able to occur because the Secret Service is led by a “DEI hire.”

“Somebody really dropped the ball. You’ve got ... a DEI initiative person who heads up our Secret Service,” Burchett said Sunday on Fox News.

The acronym refers to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which Republicans have targeted in schools, agencies and organizations across the country.

“You know, she was working at Pepsi before this,” he added. “I know she was a former Secret Service agent, but still, this is what happens when you don’t put the best players in.”

In an earlier post on social media, Burchet had written, “I can’t imagine that a DEI hire from @pepsi would be a bad choice as the head of the Secret Service.”

Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, served in the agency for 27 years in various roles — including on Joe Biden’s detail when he was vice president — before taking a role as senior director managing global security at PepsiCo North America.

She returned to the Secret Service after Biden appointed her director in 2022, making her the second woman ever in the role.

The Secret Service did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.

The Secret Service has faced criticism and scrutiny over the security failure that allowed a gunman to shoot at Trump from the rooftop of a building near a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

A rally attendee was killed in the attack. Trump and two others were wounded. Trump said on social media that a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear, which was seen bleeding as Secret Service agents rushed him from the stage.

A number of conservative figures have since pointed the finger at the Secret Service’s supposed focus on DEI, latching on to comments Cheatle made in 2023 about attracting more female recruits in an effort to diversify the agency.

Some right-wing personalities have leveled stunningly sexist criticism questioning why the agency employs female agents at all.

Burchett’s “DEI hire” comment attracted swift backlash, including from his Democratic colleague, Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.), who asked, “why make this about race/gender?” and told him to “grow up!”

“How dare he diminish her 20+ years of service to this country,” said political commentator Tara Setmayer, a former GOP communications director on Capitol Hill.

“The USSS is not beyond reproach but this is a despicable misogynistic cheap shot. This is how Republicans view women in power. Remember that when you vote in November,” she added.

See her reaction and others below.