Doubling Down

Trump Stands by Military Sexual-Assault Tweet

“Many people” think his comment that rape is to be expected was “correct.”

During a NBC News national-security forum Wednesday night, Donald Trump defended his earlier claim that rape is to be expected with women serving in the U.S. military. The topic was brought up by a veteran in the audience, at which point host Matt Lauer reminded Trump of a statement he’d made on Twitter in 2013. At that time, Trump noted that there had been “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military,” adding, “What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” Trump defended the comment Wednesday, telling Lauer, “It is a correct tweet. There are many people that think that’s absolutely correct.” He clarified that he did not mean he would remove women from the military, but said “something” has to happen. “When you have somebody that does something so evil, so bad as that, there has to be consequences for that person,” Trump said.