News over the past 24 hours since it became publicly known that Donald Trump’s White House staff secretary, Rob Porter, was a known domestic violence perpetrator said that Trump was furious. Reports said that once Trump saw the haunting photos of Porter’s victims, he was enraged that he had been allowed to continue working in the White House. He was ready to fire his chief of staff, John Kelly, for not forcing Porter out the moment he knew what a vile human being he was. For one brief moment, it almost sounded as if Trump gave a damn about survivors of domestic violence.
Then Trump spoke publicly about Porter’s sudden exit from the White House during a press conference.
Instead of sympathizing with Porter’s two ex-wives, instead of explaining why the White House knew for months that Porter was an abuser not fit to be anywhere near the White House but did nothing about it, instead of making any kind of appropriate remark about preventing the pervasive and deadly crime that Porter committed, Trump sympathized with the abuser.
‘We wish him well. He worked very hard…obviously, it’s a tough time for him…We hope he will have a great career ahead of him…He says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that.’
https://twitter.com/RFergie21/status/962025684846575616
Just to be clear, it is almost a universal truth that people accused of a crime will deny that they committed that crime. It is not universal for a report of domestic violence to be found false, as false reports are not even common. Regardless, the claims by Porter’s wife should have prevented him from working inside the White House just as it prevented him from obtaining a security clearance.
Once again, just as in the cases of Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, and even Donald Trump himself, abusers were believed over their victims. The men kept their access to some of the highest offices in the land and the women were silenced and belittled.
The only thing that’s shocking is that anyone believed that Trump cared, even for a moment.
https://twitter.com/NellSco/status/961310744926040064
Featured image screengrab via YouTube
