Trump Defends Alleged Wife-Beater Porter: 'He Says He's Innocent'

[EasyAce]

By Ben Shapiro
https://www.dailywire.com/news/26974/trump-defends-alleged-wife-beater-porter-he-says-ben-shapiro

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.”

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 . . .

. . . Denials are only enough in the realm of sexual abuse and assault, apparently . . . 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.