Posted on 10/26/2017 10:20:26 AM PDT by drewh
When Malia Obama officially began her college career after moving in at Harvard University towards the end of the summer, the subject brought with it the usual type of questions you'd expect for any current or former first daughter. Among those questions is one that points to how unique of a life she might lead on campus, that question being: Does Malia Obama have security at Harvard? As far as an answer goes, a number of reports sure make it seem like she'll have not just any security around, but the Secret Service.
Consider, for instance, what former President Barack Obama said about helping his daughter move in at his (and former First Lady Michelle Obama's) alma mater. He said, per USA Today,
I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill [Biden] that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery, and I was proud that I did not cry in front of her. But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren't hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough. And it's a reminder that at the end of our lives, whatever else we've accomplished, the thing that we'll remember are the joys that our children, and hopefully way later, our grandchildren bring.
That anecdote alone suggests that the Secret Service — the federal agency that protect presidents, vice presidents, and their families — was around when Malia Obama moved in at Harvard.
The question is whether any agents actually stay around her during the semester. To be clear, there's reason to doubt that she enjoys the protection of the Secret Service while on campus.
The agency's official website itself says that it protects former presidents, their spouses, and children of former presidents up to the age of 16. Those are pretty much the guidelines to who the Secret Service protects, according to a bill former President Obama signed himself in 2013, which granted lifetime Secret Service protection for all former presidents.
In other words, under those rules, 16-year-old Sasha Obama would likely still be under Secret Service protection, but her older sister might not be.
Still, some reports indicate that the Secret Service is indeed protecting Malia Obama. In a story written back in April about Malia Obama's imminent move to Harvard, for instance, Chicago Tribune Washington correspondent Katherine Skiba reported that "Secret Service detail will ensure" she was not on her own on campus.
In any event, the idea of Secret Service agents having a presence on a college campus to protect a president's daughter isn't unfounded.
Back when Chelsea Clinton was a student at Stanford University, agents would dress casually and carry around book bags to blend on campus, according to the Washington Post. Jack Rakove, a professor at the university who advised Clinton in the past, indicated to the Post that people at Stanford didn't treat her presence as a big deal.
As for former President George W. Bush's twin daughters, reports indicated that they had much more notable stories about their time with Secret Service agents. Both daughters are reported to have enjoyed trying to lose their Secret Service detail. Ronald Kessler, the author of a book detailing stories of Secret Service agents, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that Jenna Bush would try to ditch her agents by going through red lights and getting into her car without warning them.
While she was studying at the University of Texas, Jenna also once sent an agent to pick up a drunken male friend from a county jail, according to People Magazine. The same report from People also details how Jenna's sister, Barbara Bush, once lost her Secret Service details by speeding through EZ-pass while agents stopped to pay toll.
If Malia Obama likes to toy around with a security detail like that, we'd be sure to find out, because it seems likely that she'll have that security around in the first place-and the public cant seem to leave her alone.
Providing Secret Service protection for former presidents and their families is a waste of tax-payers’ money.
I wonder what the procedure is for a kid who wants to date her? Background check, pat-down, certainly. A body cavity search would sure ruin the mood...
“”I wonder what the procedure is for a kid who wants to date her? “”
An exam of his brain!!!!!
“”Providing Secret Service protection for former presidents and their families is a waste of tax-payers’ money.””
AMEN to that. There’s not a single one who can’t afford to pay for their own security. I don’t know why any of them should be afraid to mingle with the “unwashed” without security. And since guns are bad make sure no one protects them with guns! IF the SS HAS to protect them, take away their guns!
Doubt she has anything to worry about from the Weinerstein.
Like Soetoro, just because she may be registered, it doesn’t mean she’s in school. She could barely get up at the crack of noon to put in half an hour at Weinstein’s.
Her SS allowed her to attend keggers when she was a minor. They let her get so high at Lalapalloza she was rolling around on the ground. They’ll turn a blind eye to anything she dates.
“Does Malia Obama have security at Harvard?”
Does it get hot and humid in Houston?
While I despise Obama’s politics, his children are likely to be a target simply because of the federal job their father held so it is perfectly proper for Secret Service protection to be provided.
If their father gets a $12 million book deal, then maybe dad should be paying the tab. I think Karl Marx would think it proper.
Can Trump reverse Obama?
Probably if he can get a bill passed.
Obligatory ping
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