Speaking out against domestic violence in the wake of a video showing Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, punching his fiancée in a lift, President Barack Obama said that "hitting a woman is not something a real man does".
"The president is the father of two daughters and, like any American, he believes that domestic violence is contemptible and unacceptable in a civilised society," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.
"Hitting a woman is not something a real man does and that's true whether or not an act of violence happens in the public eye, or, far too often, behind closed doors," the statement added.
It went on to say that that stopping domestic violence "is something that's bigger than football".
The Ravens released Rice on Monday after the video, published on the gossip website TMZ, showed him punching Janay Palmer, who is now his wife, and her falling face down on the floor.
Rice, 27, was also suspended indefinitely by the National Football League.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
