February 9, 2018

Trump on Aide Accused of Domestic Abuse: “We Hope That He Has a Wonderful Career”

“He says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.”

President Donald Trump on Friday offered his best wishes to Rob Porter, the top White House aide who resigned Wednesday after two of his ex-wives came forward with domestic abuse allegations. The president also emphasized that Porter has denied the accusations.

“We wish him well, he worked very hard,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I found out about it recently and I was surprised by it. But we certainly wish him well. It’s an obviously tough time for him. He did a very good job while he was in the White House, and we hope that he has a wonderful career.”

“Now he also, as you probably know, he says that he’s innocent. I think you have to remember that,” Trump added. “He said very strongly yesterday that’s he’s innocent.”

Trump’s comments marked the first time the president has publicly addressed the growing scandal, which emerged this week after news outlets reported on the abuse allegations and published photos of one of his former wives with a black eye. White House chief of staff John Kelly has been under intense fire for reportedly knowing about the allegations for months.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. The deadline’s almost here. Please help us reach our $150k membership goal by May 31.

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