Overview

• Speaking in Washington, the president said crime would be “virtually nothing” if authorities did not count “things that take place in the home,” adding, “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime.”
• He made the comments while touting an 87 percent drop in D.C. crime after federal deployments and said such domestic incidents kept him from claiming a 100 percent reduction.
• Public figures quickly denounced the remarks as minimizing abuse, with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posting that domestic violence is a crime.
• Commentators warned the rhetoric could embolden abusers, with some calling it a perceived “green light” for violence.
• The backlash intersected with Trump’s legal exposure involving women, as a federal appeals court the same day upheld the $83 million defamation judgment in E. Jean Carroll’s case and critics recalled the Access Hollywood tape.