Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defended a three-year-old tweet criticizing the integration of women into the United States military during the Commander in Chief Forum Wednesday night.
The issue cropped up when a retired Marine asked him what he could to do curb sexual assault in the military, noting that his daughter was interested in joining but declined due to the issue. Trump pointed to the need to have a court system within the military and the lack of prosecution to those offenders.
“It’s a massive problem. The numbers are staggering, hard to believe even. But were going to have to run it very tight. I, at the same time, want to keep the court system in the military,” Trump said. “I don’t think it should be outside the military. But we have to come down very, very hard on that, and you’re daughter is absolutely right. It is a massive problem, but we have to do something about that problem, and the best thing we can do is set up a court system within the military. Right now, that court system practically doesn’t exists. It takes too long.”
NBC’s Matt Lauer went on to press Trump about the tweet from May, 2013, which noted at the time there were 28,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military and only 238 convictions, adding, “What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2013
“It is a correct tweet. There are many people who think that is absolutely correct,” Trump said as Lauer asked if kicking women out of the military was the proper move. “And since then it’s gotten worse. No, not to kick [women] out [of the military], but something to has to be happened.”
“Right now, part of the problem is nobody gets prosecuted. You have reported and the gentleman can tell you, you have the report of rape and nobody gets prosecuted. There are no consequences,” Trump continued. “When you have somebody who does something so evil, so bad as that, there has to be consequences to that person. You have to go after that person. Right now, nobody’s doing anything. Look at the small number of results. I mean, that’s part of the problem.”
