Handling of abuse cases frustrates GOP women
WASHINGTON — The Trump White House’s handling of abuse charges against men in its midst is frustrating prominent Republican women as the party’s years-long struggle to attract female voters stretches into the 2018 midterm elections.
“It’s the mixed signals. They’ve just got to be stronger, more consistent, clearer in the message” to women, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said Tuesday. “It’s difficult being a Republican woman to have to fight through that all the time.”
The thrice-married Trump added a new chapter to his difficult history with female voters in the past week by refusing to offer public words of support to the ex-wives of two senior presidential aides. Rob Porter, the president’s staff secretary, resigned last week after ex-wives Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby came forward with allegations of abuse. DailyMail.com published photos of Holderness with a black eye. Porter denied harming either of them.
A second White House official, Trump speechwriter David Sorensen, left the White House last Friday after his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett, described physical abuse that included being thrown into a wall and burned by a cigarette. He, too, denied the allegations.
After initially balking, Trump spoke out on Wednesday.
“I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind,” he said. “Everyone knows that and it almost wouldn’t even have to be said.”
But for Republicans, who are defending their House and Senate majorities and have long struggled to appeal to female voters, it did have to be said. Women, especially, were concerned after Trump on Saturday tweeted support for Porter and other accused men.
“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,” Trump tweeted. “There is no recovery for someone falsely accused — life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”
One in three women and one in four men are affected by domestic violence every year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Jody Rushton, president of the National Federation of Republican Women, said in a statement that domestic violence “continues to be a very serious and pernicious problem in our country.” The federation “believes America as a whole should always support victims of abuse, not just when it’s politically expedient to do so.”
Others were more direct in their criticism of the Trump White House.
“I’m extremely disappointed in this situation. Abuse is never OK,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said on CNN Tuesday.