Donald Trump Faces Backlash After Downplaying Domestic Violence as a 'Much Lesser Crime' in Shocking Speech

Donald Trump sparked backlash after downplaying domestic violence as a minor offense during his speech at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, September 8, the president boasted about cutting crime rates in D.C., crediting his decision to flood the city with federal law enforcement and National Guard troops. However, he raised eyebrows by suggesting the numbers would look even stronger if incidents of violence inside the home weren’t included.

"It's called the safe-zone city. There's no crime, they said; crime is down 87 percent. I said no, no, no, it's more than 87 percent. [It's] virtually nothing," Trump boasted.

"And much lesser things, things that take place in the home, they call crime. You know, they'll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, 'this was a crime, see,' so now I can't claim 100 percent," he continued. "But we are — we are a safe city.”

The clip immediately went viral on social media, sparking outrage.

“Domestic violence is a crime. Trump wants Maga men to be able to smack their wives along,” one user fired back on X.

Another pushed back on his wording, stating, “Just because a married couple argues does not equate to domestic violence!!”

“Waiting to see how MAGA defends beating their wives,” a third commented.

A fourth added, “Domestic violence is a crime. Only a barbaric society would downplay or decriminalise it.”

And one more didn’t hold back, “Says a convicted rapist.”

The timing of Trump’s remarks comes as he faces serious legal setbacks. On the very same day, a federal appeals court upheld an $83.3 million jury verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.

With interest, Trump now owes Carroll a total of $89.7 million.

In 2019, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. At the time, Trump denied the claim while publicly mocking her, saying she was “not my type” and suggesting her memoir “should be sold in the fiction section.”

The jury didn’t find that Trump committed rape, but ruled he was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. In total, he was ordered to pay $18.3 million for emotional and reputational harm and $65 million in punitive damages.

The appeals court confirmed the verdict in its 70-page decision, writing, “We hold that the district court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury’s duly rendered damages awards were reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case.”