ABC News(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump is standing by a controversial tweet about sexual assault in the military from 2013.
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
During NBC News’ “Commander-In-Chief” Forum Wednesday night, the Republican nominee was asked if he stood by the comment.
“Well it is. It is a correct tweet. There are many people think that’s absolutely correct,” Trump responded. When asked by moderator Matt Lauer if women should be taken out of the military, Trump said, “Well well — it’s happening … And by the way since then, it’s gotten worse. No, not to kick them out but something has to happen.”
Trump said that assaults are rarely prosecuted. “You have to go after that person,” he said.
According to a Department of Defense study from 2015, 22 percent of active-duty women and 7 percent of active-duty men may have experienced some form of sexual harassment last year.
Trump said that sexual assault in the military is “a massive problem” that he believes can be solved by further prosecution within military courts.
“The best thing we can do is set up a court system within the military. Right now, the court system practically doesn’t exist. Takes too long,” he said.
“We have to come down very, very hard on that,” he said of sexual assault.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.