Last week, two White House staffers resigned from their positions amid allegations they had both physically and emotionally abused their former spouses. When it was revealed that both the FBI and White House officials knew about the allegations against both men, it raised questions as to why they were allowed to keep their jobs and whether or not this administration enables abusers.
In a White House press briefing Monday afternoon, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asserted that the White House takes the allegations “very seriously” and believes that they should be “investigated thoroughly.’
“The president and the entire administration take domestic violence very seriously and believe all allegations need to be investigated thoroughly. Above all, the president supports victims of domestic violence and believes everyone should be treated fairly and with due process. We’ve addressed this situation extensively, and we have nothing more to add at this time on that topic,” Sanders said.
When asked why we haven’t heard the president himself say that he supports victims, Sanders said, “I spoke with the president. Those are actually directly his words that he gave me.”
When pressed on the issue as to why Donald Trump hasn’t said that when he’s had the opportunity to do so, she said, “It’s my job to speak on behalf of the president. I spoke to him, and he relayed that message directly to me, and I’m relaying it directly to you.”
Oh, really?
I seem to recall last summer, when asked why the president was allowed to tweet things about special counsel Robert Mueller, Sanders specifically said that it was not her job to speak for the president.
So, is it “Oochie Wally” or is it “One Mic,” Suckabee?
Furthermore, it’s interesting that this is the spin we are being given considering that the president has tweeted on his own about the situation, and what he said is the complete antithesis of what Sanders is saying to the American people now.
On Saturday, the president wrote on Twitter: “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?”
That doesn’t sound like a man who supports victims of domestic violence. That sounds like a man who wants to gaslight victims in favor of the men accused.
When asked about the Rob Porter situation Friday, Trump defended Porter publicly and said, “He says he innocent, and I think you have to remember that.”
That is the same defense he lobbed for then-Senate candidate Roy Moore back in December when allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with minors emerged about Moore.
At the time, Trump said, “Well, he denies it. He says it didn’t happen. And you have to listen to him also.”
Furthermore, the president himself has been accused 19 times of sexual harassment and sexual abuse—claims that he and the White House have labeled “fake news.” His administration’s policies do not show any amount of care for women who are victims, either. In fact, before he even took office, his team proposed eliminating the Justice Department’s violence-against-women grant programs that allocate funds to organizations that deal with sexual assault and domestic abuse.
As a woman, I’m not sure how Suckabee reconciles her staunch defense of the president and his bullshit in the wake of the #MeToo movement. That she could stand at that podium and give that bullshit-ass statement is sickening. She knows what her boss has said publicly (more than once!) when it comes to accused abusers, and she continues to defend him anyway. It’s gross.
It’s obvious the president doesn’t care about victims of domestic violence. He’s made that clear.
The somewhat shocking reveal here is that maybe Suckabee doesn’t care, either.
And that’s sad.