CNN's Jake Tapper rips the White House for tolerating top aide accused of domestic abuse

CNN's Jake Tapper
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNN)

White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned Wednesday, after reports surfaced that he had physically abused two of his ex-wives. Porter denied the allegations — detailed by ex-wives Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby to the Daily Mail and The Intercept this week — but resigned anyway, saying he "will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign."

As Porter's resignation rippled through Washington, the White House defended their man. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Porter "someone of the highest integrity and exemplary character," while Chief of Staff John Kelly said Porter was "a friend, a confidante, and a trusted professional."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Kelly O'Meara Morales

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.