President Trump kicked off Saturday morning with a series of tweets on his favorite subjects — taking credit for low unemployment rates in the U.S., slamming the FBI’s investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 elections, and defending abusive men.
No doubt alluding to the two now-booted White House staffers accused of domestic abuse — White House Secretary Rob Porter and speechwriter David Sorensen — the president lamented the travesty of justice that would force a man like Porter (accused by his ex-wives of being physically, verbally and psychologically abusive) out of a job:
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
Trump’s defense of men accused of abuse is nothing new: He stood by Roy Moore, the Alabama judge accused by a number of women of sexual abuse against them when they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s.
He called Roger Ailes, former (and now deceased) head of Fox News accused by several women of sexual harassment and forced to step down from his position in disgrace, a “very, very good person.”
Indeed, he has defended Mike Tyson (who served time for a rape charge), calling his conviction a “travesty,” and said he felt that Fox host Bill O’Reilly, who has a decades-long record of sexually harassing women and settling out of court, had “done nothing wrong.”
Twitter noticed.
What do Rob Porter, Roy Moore, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, and Mike Tyson have in common?
They're all accused (or convicted) abusers.
They all have a defender in the White House.
https://t.co/wyPfPN3396— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) February 10, 2018
TRUMP: False allegations are dangerous.
ALSO TRUMP: Obama is a foreigner. Central Park Five are guilty. Rafael Cruz killed JFK. Judge Curiel can’t be fair because he’s Mexican. Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson lied about our phone call. People who didn’t applaud committed treason
— BH-Fanatik (@HaZe4Real) February 10, 2018
That the president, himself accused of sexual misconduct by no fewer of 14 women, shows no empathy for the women who find themselves in the position to speak out against the men they say have beaten, raped, and otherwise abused them is perhaps not so surprising.
What is remarkable is his call for due process for a very specific subset of people, and not say, Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 elections against whom his supporters chanted “lock her up” (even though she was never charged with anything).
Even when people go through some kind of due process and are found to be innocent, such as the Central Park Five (five men convicted of a rape in 1989 who were ultimately exonerated by DNA evidence) Trump considers them guilty. After another man confessed to the crime, the men settled with the state of New York for $41 million, and this was something Trump found unacceptable.
The Central Park Five documentary was a one sided piece of garbage that didn't explain the.horrific crimes of these young men while in park
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2013
In 1990, Trump went as far as to take out a full-page ad calling for the state to reinstate the death penalty, insisting that the Central Park Five were guilty.
Trump also considers most Muslims, refugees, and migrants from Central America criminals, and wants to either keep them out of the U.S. or deport them.
He’s often referred to those who protest against him as “thugs” even when they’ve not broken any laws.
Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017
He extends his harsh judgement on refugees in other countries too, such as the ones detained by Australia on offshore prisons.
Trump told Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull: “I guarantee you they [the refugees] are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.” None of these refugees has been charged with a crime in Australia, stood trial nor been locked up for any reason other than the fact that they arrived on the country’s shores by irregular means.
