For Trump, domestic violence is not really a crime

Donald Trump, speaking to the Religious Liberty Commission on Monday, made some strange and shocking remarks about the recent drop in crime in Washington D.C., which he attributed to the presence of the military.

He claimed that crimes were not just down 87%, but much more, explaining that even “little fight with the wife” were counted as crimes and prevented him from posting a perfect 100% rate.

During his speech, Trump, seeking to pat himself on the back for sending troops to what he described as among the “worst, most violent cities” in Washington, D.C., claimed that crime had dropped far more than the 87% officially reported, declaring that it’s “more than 87%.”

Trump explained that crime statistics also included “things that happen in the home, they call them crimes,” evoking, for example, “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, this was a crime.”

Trump thus continued to relegate domestic violence to “far less serious things” and regretted that this prevented him from claiming a 100% drop in crime in Washington D.C., declaring, “So now I can’t claim 100%.”

The president’s statements, picked up by several media outlets, quickly sparked a wave of indignation, as this kind of downplaying of domestic violence proves not only dangerous, but also a serious step backwards.