Jake Tapper Blasts Trump Administration For Supporting Porter

Now that White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter has resigned, CNN’s Jake Tapper is calling out those who have rushed to defend him, The Week reports.

Reports surfaced that allege he physically abused two of his former wives — Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby. Details of the alleged abuse were revealed by the Intercept and the Daily Mail. but he denies this, saying “he will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign.”

Then the White House rushed to Porter’s defense, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders characterizing him as:

“…Someone of the highest integrity and exemplary character.”

John Kelly, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff called Porter “a friend, a confidante, and a trusted professional.”

That was too much for Tapper, host of CNN’s The Lead, and he blasted the Trump administration at the beginning of the show.

“There aree basic lines of decency,” he said, “and we continue to see [President Trump’s] presidency eroding these lines.”

He chided Trump for characterizing some white nationalists at a rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August as “very fine people” and lambasted him for endorsing former Senate candidate Roy Moore, who allegedly assaulted teen girls.

That led him to question the administration’s morals.

“To this list … the White House has now added someone accused by two ex-wives of spousal abuse.”

Media Matters for America reports that he followed that up by saying this:

“Today the White House is still standing by Rob Porter, attesting to his character and his excellence. Before we begin today’s report, I wanted to once again note a further erosion of standards for what I thought we had all agreed was not okay, not acceptable, not moral. White supremacist rallies, child molesters, domestic abusers, another moment where the White House is sadly no longer considered a place of the highest standards in the land but rather a place where our national standards are being degraded.”

But considering Trump’s attitudes towards women and people of color, is it really any surprise that this is going on?

You can watch Tapper in action in the video below.


Featured image via YouTube video.