Trump Defends Alleged Wife
On Friday   President Trump  spoke to the press about ousted aide Rob Porter  who left the White House after two ex-wives accused him of spousal abuse and one provided a photo of herself with a black eye.  Trump  defended Porter  stating  “it was very sad when we heard about it  and certainly   he ’s very sad now. As you probably know   he  says  he ’s innocent. And I think you have to remember that.  He  said very strongly yesterday that  he ’s innocent  so you’ll have to talk to  him  about that. But we absolutely wish  him  well. Did a very good job while  he  was at the White House.”
BREAKING:  Trump  wishes Porter well  points to  his  denials. " He  says  he 's innocent. I think you have to remember that." pic.twitter.com/t3PfTVtld0 — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) February 9  2018
For  Trump   Porter’s denial is enough to allow him to wish Porter well. The same does not hold true for Omarosa  who isn’t accused of punching a woman in the eye  but who did say she wouldn’t vote for  Trump  in 2020. She got shellacked from the White House podium yesterday.
So  it seems that  Trump ’s standard of belief relies on the denial of the accused. But not always  obviously.  Trump  spent most of the 2016 election cycle chanting “Lock her up!” regarding Hillary Clinton  who was never charged with or convicted of a crime.  He  wasn’t wrong to believe that Hillary had committed criminal acts. But her denial wasn’t enough for  him .
And  of course   Trump  was in fine fettle with regard to the Central Park Five:
I can see why @realDonaldTrump supported Rob Porter and emphasized his claims of innocence  given the President's long history of commitment to due process and fairness. pic.twitter.com/nfB99FjS9o — TreasonHat (@Popehat) February 9  2018
Denials are only enough in the realm of sexual abuse and assault  apparently. Back in 1992   Trump  defended convicted rapist Mike Tyson  stating  “You have a young woman that was in  his  room   his  hotel room late in the evening at  her  own will. You have a young woman who was seen dancing for the beauty contest  dancing with a big smile on her face  looked happy as could be.” He proposed no jail time for Tyson.
 Trump  used the Rob Porter excuse with Roy Moore as well  stating  “You have to listen to him also…He totally denies it.” And way back when   Trump  even defended Bill Clinton  calling his accusers “terrible” and “unattractive.”
But  Trump ’s rule regarding denials regarding sexual abuse cease to apply if  he  can attack  his  political opponents. So during the campaign   Trump  held a campaign press conference with four accusers against Clinton; in open debate   he  stated  “There’s never been anybody in the history of politics that has been so abusive to women.” Clinton  of course  denied such abuse.
 Trump ’s rule makes a good deal of practical sense:  he ’s been accused by a bevy of women of both sexual harassment and assault.  He  denies it. Therefore   he  has to take everyone else’s denials at face value.
But suffice it to say that  Trump ’s standard puts decent conservatives at severe moral risk. The question here isn’t whether  Trump  stands for “innocent until proven guilty.”  He  doesn’t. The question is whether Republicans are willing to stand by while other Republicans are credibly accused of awful offenses  tut-tutting about “denials ” all in order to mirror  Trump ’s self-serving standard.
On Friday   [TGT]spoke to the press about ousted aide Rob Porter  who left the White House after two ex-wives accused him of spousal abuse and one provided a photo of herself with a black eye.  [TGT]defended Porter  stating  “it was very sad when we heard about it  and certainly   [TGT] ’s very sad now. As you probably know   [TGT]  says  [TGT] ’s innocent. And I think you have to remember that.  [TGT]  said very strongly yesterday that  [TGT] ’s innocent  so you’ll have to talk to  [TGT]  about that. But we absolutely wish  [TGT]  well. Did a very good job while  [TGT]  was at the White House.”
BREAKING:  [TGT]  wishes Porter well  points to  [TGT]  denials. " [TGT]  says  [TGT] 's innocent. I think you have to remember that." pic.twitter.com/t3PfTVtld0 — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) February 9  2018
For  [TGT]Porter’s denial is enough to allow [TGT] to wish Porter well. The same does not hold true for Omarosa  who isn’t accused of punching a woman in the eye  but who did say she wouldn’t vote for  [TGT]  in 2020. She got shellacked from the White House podium yesterday.
So  it seems that  [TGT] ’s standard of belief relies on the denial of the accused. But not always  obviously.  [TGT]spent most of the 2016 election cycle chanting “Lock [TGT] up!” regarding Hillary Clinton  who was never charged with or convicted of a crime.  [TGT]  wasn’t wrong to believe that Hillary had committed criminal acts. But her denial wasn’t enough for  him .
And  of course   [TGT]was in fine fettle with regard to the Central Park Five:
I can see why @realDonaldTrump supported Rob Porter and emphasized his claims of innocence  given the President's long history of commitment to due process and fairness. pic.twitter.com/nfB99FjS9o — TreasonHat (@Popehat) February 9  2018
Denials are only enough in the realm of sexual abuse and assault  apparently. Back in 1992   [TGT]defended convicted rapist Mike Tyson  stating  “You have a young woman that was in  his  room   his  hotel room late in the evening at  her  own will. You have a young woman who was seen dancing for the beauty contest  dancing with a big smile on her face  looked happy as could be.” He proposed no jail time for Tyson.
 [TGT]used the Rob Porter excuse with Roy Moore as well  stating  “You have to listen to him also…He totally denies it.” And way back when   [TGT]even defended Bill Clinton  calling his accusers “terrible” and “unattractive.”
But  [TGT] ’s rule regarding denials regarding sexual abuse cease to apply if  he  can attack  his  political opponents. So during [TGT]held a campaign press conference with four accusers against Clinton; in open debate   he  stated  “There’s never been anybody in the history of politics that has been so abusive to women.” Clinton  of course  denied such abuse.
 Trump ’s rule makes a good deal of practical sense:  he ’s been accused by a bevy of women of both sexual harassment and assault.  He  denies it. Therefore   he  has to take everyone else’s denials at face value.
But suffice it to say that  [TGT] standard puts decent conservatives at severe moral risk. The question here isn’t whether  [TGT]  stands for “innocent until proven guilty.”  [TGT]  doesn’t. The question is whether Republicans are willing to stand by while other Republicans are credibly accused of awful offenses  tut-tutting about “denials ” all in order to mirror  [TGT] ’s self-serving standard.