President Donald Trump on Wednesday finally said that he is opposed to domestic violence, on the heels of the scandal surrounding one former White House staffer’s resignation over allegations of domestic violence.
“I am totally opposed to domestic violence and everybody here knows that,” Trump told reporters during a photo opportunity with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). “I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that and it almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So now you hear it but you all know it.”
Trump has stayed silent on the scandal so far, except for wishing Porter well and publishing a tweet in which he expressed sympathy with those whose “lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation.”
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018
The White House has said Porter’s background check — which reportedly included interviews that Porter’s ex-wives gave to the FBI in which they accused him of abuse — was incomplete at the time of Porter’s resignation.
But FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicted that claim during testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Afterward, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that White House had meant that the White House Personnel Security Office — staffed by “career officials,” she specified — hadn’t finished their own work with Porter’s clearance.
This post has been updated.
