Secret Service gives Carson, Trump code names
Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump have reportedly gotten their Secret Service call signs.
Secret Service agents will call Carson “Eli” and Trump “Mogul,” according to Fox News.
{mosads}The agency says it will begin protecting both men Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.
Officials noted that code names are not final until that time, so last-minute changes are still possible.
Fox News reported that the Secret Service assigns a letter of the alphabet each individual it protects. The person then selects a name starting with that letter, from a list of options created by the agency.
The call sign describes the president, first lady or other significant personage without exposing sensitive information.
Trump reportedly selected “Mogul” from a list of approximately 10 names, in a seeming nod to his history as a businessman.
Carson, meanwhile, is likely selecting “Eli” due to its spiritual connotations, Fox News reported.
Carson and Trump received authorization for Secret Service protection last week.
Trump bemoaned the agency’s review process during an exclusive interview with The Hill on Oct. 13.
“I want to put them on notice because they should have a liability,” he said then. “Personally, I think if [President] Obama were doing as well as me, he would’ve had Secret Service protection [earlier]. I have by far the biggest crowds.”
“There’s no rush because I’m a Republican,” he quipped. “They don’t give a s–t.”
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has long enjoyed agency protection as a former first lady.
Fox News said Tuesday that Secret Service agents call Obama “Renegade,” while Hillary Clinton goes by “Evergreen.”
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