What's The 'Sloped Roof' Meme? Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle's Comment About The Attempted Assassination Of Donald Trump Explained

Sloped roof memes are flooding the internet right now, all because of a comment made by Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, regarding the roof where Donald Trump's shooter was positioned.

Following the attempt on the former President's life at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday evening, fingers were pointed at the Secret Service agents assigned to his detail. Many at the female agents (like one who failed to holster her weapon) but the brunt of the blame was largely placed on Director Cheatle, who recently cited the "sloped roof" as a main factor in the Secret Service blunder.

When did Kim Cheatle say this and what are all of these sloped roof memes about? Let's explain.

What's The Secret Service Director's 'Sloped Roof' Comment?

Kimberly Cheatle, the acting Director of the Secret Service, was interviewed by ABC News on Tuesday, breaking her silence about the major oversight that happened at the Bulter, Pennsylvania rally.

The shooter was positioned on a roof stage left of Trump's podium. Meanwhile, the Secret Service snipers were on a roof behind Trump. As many are surely curious about, the interviewer asked why the shooter's building was not secured by the agents.

Cheatle responded to the question, "That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point, and so, you know, there’s a safety factor that we considered. We didn’t want to put someone on a sloped roof …"

They wouldn’t want to put a Secret Service agent on a sloped roof. Because that would be a security concern.

So they secured it from the inside.

Which means that Secret Service was in the building from which a sniper was shooting the President from the unsecured sloped roof.… pic.twitter.com/xXlRthVV3E

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) July 17, 2024

What Do The 'Sloped Roof' Memes Mean?

Memes about "sloped roofs" are surfacing because Cheatle's comment has some apparent flaws and many found the reasoning to be illogical. For instance, the roof that the snipers are positioned on looks sloped itself. So, how was the other roof more dangerous?

Also, a sloped roof can be dangerous but the roofs at the Trump rally appeared barely sloped to many onlookers. For instance, agents were seen walking on it with ease after the threat was eliminated.

Many political leaders and pundits were already asking for Director Cheatle to step down following the incident, so her "sloped roof" comment is only compounding that reaction and adding to memes that make sloped roofs sound like the most dangerous things ever.

For the full history of the Sloped Roof Secret Service Director Comment, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.