Here’s what a good old boys network looks like: Rob Porter, Donald Trump’s staff secretary, resigned after reports surfaced that he’d abused both of his ex-wives. Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly knew about a 2010 protective order against Porter by wife number two, which prevented Porter from getting the security clearance he should have needed to do his job, but Kelly did his best to stand by Porter until public outrage forced him to change his tune. Porter’s resignation, which was initially on a “sometime, eventually” kind of basis, abruptly changed on Wednesday night to a tomorrow (Thursday) kind of thing, and Kelly had to back off his glowing description of Porter.
Kelly—who, again, knew about the 2010 protective order and who was reportedly one of several White House officials to know about the allegations before they were reported in the media—responded to the first stories about Porter’s history of abuse by saying:
“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor, and I can't say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him,” Kelly told the Daily Mail. The White House sent reporters the same statement again on Wednesday.
So you can beat your wives and still be a man of true integrity and honor, according to John Kelly. As long as you’re a white Republican man with a square jaw, anyway. John Kelly was proud to serve alongside a man who did this to his first wife:
‘He would throw me down on the bed, then put his full body weight on top of me, then grind a knee or elbow into my body, expressing rage.’ [...]
The violence escalated to where Porter was choking his wife.
‘It was not hard enough for me to pass out but it was scary, humiliating and dehumanizing,’ she said.
Only on Wednesday night, after that story had been fully aired all day long, after Kelly had called Porter “a man of true integrity and honor” earlier in the very same day, did Kelly have anything to say about Porter’s ex-wives’ description of his integrity and honor:
"I was shocked by the new allegations released today against Rob Porter. There is no place for domestic violence in our society. I stand by my previous comments of the Rob Porter that I have come to know since becoming Chief of Staff, and believe every individual deserves the right to defend their reputation. I accepted his resignation earlier today, and will ensure a swift and orderly transition."
So while Kelly abhors domestic violence, that history can be separated out from the character of the man he knows. Too bad the wife beating means we can’t keep him, because he’s such a great guy! No thought that maybe the wife beating means he isn’t a great guy at all. But hey, maybe Porter can “defend his reputation” and make us unsee those pictures of his first wife with a black eye.
