Story highlights Trump and Clinton appeared during a forum Wednesday

Trump was asked about military sexual assault

(CNN) Donald Trump stood by his past comment that military sexual assaults should be expected "when they put men and women together" in the US armed forces during an NBC-hosted forum Wednesday night. But he added that a "court system" should be set up in the military to better deal with what he called "a massive problem."

"26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?" Trump had tweeted in 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

When asked about the tweet by moderator Matt Lauer, Trump didn't back down.

"I think that that's absolutely correct," he said during the forum.

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