Trump reportedly thinks Porter is 'sick,' and guilty, but still defends him publicly from charges of domestic abuse

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Rob Porter speaks to President Donald Trump.

• US President Donald Trump reportedly thinks Rob Porter, the former White House staff secretary accused of beating multiple women, is "sick" and guilty.
• But Trump publicly defended Porter and the White House has been calling for due process for the accused.
• Reports indicate the White House knew about Porter, and Trump simply valued his loyalty.

US President Donald Trump may have a more nuanced view of the drama engulfing former White House staff secretary Rob Porter then he lets on - and may be standing by an ally he personally considers guilty.

Four sources close to Trump told Axios' White House correspondent Jonathan Swan that Trump sees Porter, the White House staffer who stepped down last week amid mounting evidence that he's a serial domestic abuser of women, as "sick" and guilty.

Axios said Trump read aloud an article accusing Porter of abuse and had difficulty reconciling the report with Porter's neat, Harvard image. The Daily Mail article reportedly read by Trump contains details of Porter's violence towards his ex-wife, and other women have since come forward.

Trump also views men who beat their wives in the same way as child molesters: "Sick puppies" who will never change, according to Axios.

The behind-the-scenes insight differs from Trump's public defense of Porter.

Team Trump goes all out on defending Porter

Screenshot via @CNN/Twiter

Conway on CNN's State of the Union

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that "lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation" and called for due process in what was widely interpreted as a defense of Porter. Furthermore, after Porter left the White House, Trump wished him good luck and said he had "a great career ahead of him."

Reports that key members of the White House knew about Porter's past and did nothing have plagued the White House in the days following the scandal, with the suggestion that Trump simply valued his loyalty. Some key Trump administration officials have, however, expressed shock at finding out about Porter only recently.

On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to Trump, made the rounds on the Sunday political shows to denounce domestic violence, and defend the White House's jumbled response to Porter's ouster.

In the wake of Trump's defense of Porter, a 2012 tweet of his comments on the famous domestic abuse case between performer Chris Brown and former girlfriend Rhianna has been making the rounds again. "If @rihanna is dating @chrisbrown again then she has a death wish. A beater is always a beater--just watch!" the old Trump tweet reads.