CNN’s Chris Cuomo shreds Trump’s defense of domestic violence: ‘People die because of this’

During Tuesday's "New Day," co-host Chris Cuomo went on an epic rant against President Donald Trump's resistance to address domestic violence and abuse after having at least three men working for him accused of violence.

Co-host Alisyn Camerota noted that Trump mentioned Porter but not the survivors of his alleged abuse. Cuomo cut in to say that Trump did address the survivors by saying that "a lot of this stuff is false" and "a lot of people's lives are ruined" by such allegations.

Commentator A.B. Stoddard said that the reason Kellyanne Conway rushed to the cameras Sunday was to fix what Trump said on Friday and tweeted Saturday. Instead Conway made things worse.

"Domestic abuse is an entirely different echelon of concern in this society," Cuomo said. "Domestic abuse is another thing. People die because of this. He knows this. He ignored it on purpose. It's not an open question. Does he support, does he not support? The answer has to be no. He tweeted twice this morning. He could come out and clear it up when ever he wanted to. One simple statement: 'Victims of domestic abuse? Not on my watch.' Make some grandiose statement about 'never again' and 'everyone cherishes women.' He hasn't done it. What other explanation can there be other than he does not want to? It's bad for him in some part of his mind?"

New York Times reporter Alex Burns noted that it raises more questions about the White House, and how much evidence administration officials ignored about Porter.

"That's a red herring because due process, of course, matters in the criminal justice system," Cuomo cut in. "This is a man who has no hesitance about putting out a statement, which is certainly within his right, now and role as a leader, you don't have to wait for the system here especially with the facts you have."

But Burns argued that there's no way Trump could come out and claim "zero tolerance" when the White House had the information for months.

Camerota noted that Conway implied that Hope Hicks will be fine because she is "a strong woman," which implies that the other alleged survivors of Porter are somehow snot strong women. It prompted the first wife to write a response to Conway.

"It's too big a deal," Cuomo said. He touted a documentary coming out about the way women react to violence. "The way that women shake when they talk about this years later. The fear they have that the system doesn't respect this. You know, now you have the president of the United States literally being the physical form of that system and never saying, 'Well, yeah. At least Kellyanne said I have no reason not to believe these women.' One woman with a black eye. Another one who got an order of protection."

Camerota jumped in to note that a protective order is due process in these cases.

"This is a man who has every bit of comfort jumping to a conclusion when it suits him," Cuomo said. "In similar situations -- although frankly we've never seen him botch something as egregious as this when he's going after allegations of women to say it's inappropriate conduct. If there's somebody who touched me and I don't want it. He jumps right now out there to defend them. Not here. To this moment, he said by the way, 'I think women's of domestic abuse the penalty has been harder.' He hasn't said it. And he won't would be my guess. Now he can't."

Burns agreed, because Trump refuses to say things when people pressure him. Camerota agreed but said that it's shocking how out of date the talking points are about "good people on both sides."

"That thing that he does," Camerota continued. "'There are very fine people on the other side that we have to protect.' That's the wrong message right now now."

Cuomo noted that one in four women experience some kind of violence and one in seven men also experience it.

"I'm just fresh into this stuff because of how steeped we are in it right now now for this documentary," Cuomo said. "If you punch somebody in the face, you probably go to jail. If you punch a spouse in the face, you probably do not go to jail as long as -- there are states that don't have these types of law. He is playing on every point of weakness in terms of what these women need to help them and some men as well. It's not a male problem. Trump supporters are pushing this point, 'why aren't you talking about the men?' And they're bringing up all these other BS concerns to help defend him. I think that is the real fruit of the poisonous tree in terms of him not coming out strong on the right now issue."

Watch the full exchange below: