Obama condemns Ray Rice after sickening video of NFL star knocking out his fiancée surfaces

President Obama has condemned Ray Rice in the strongest terms after shocking video of the former Baltimore Ravens running back striking his then fiancée Janay Palmer emerged on Monday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest released a short statement following consultations with the president, after TMZ released shocking footage of Rice punching unconscious in an Atlantic City elevator in February,

'The President is the father of two daughters. And like any American, he believes that domestic violence is contemptible and unacceptable in a civilized society,' said the statement which denounced Rice for his violence towards Janay, who is now his wife. 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. Stopping domestic violence is something that's bigger than football – and all of us have a responsibility to put a stop to it.' 

The Governor's statement;

"The video released this morning of this domestic assault was horrible, shocking, and reprehensible. Everyone can do more to help end the scourge of domestic violence.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he met with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, team president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome after they saw the video, and they decided to Ray go.

"It's something we saw for the first time today, all of us," Harbaugh said yesterday "It changed things, of course. It made things a little bit different."

Speaking about the incident back in July, Ray said;

'My daughter is 2 years old now. One day she's going to know the power of Google. Me having to explain that to her, what happened that night, that's something I have to live with the rest of my life. I know that's not who I am as a man. That's not who my mom raised me to be. If anybody knows me, they know I was raised by a single parent, and that was my mother. I let her down, I let my wife down, I let my daughter down. I let my wife's parents down. I let the whole Baltimore community down. I let my teammates down. I let so many people down because of 30 seconds of my life that I know I can't take back.'

                 Ray and Janay have been together since 2008 and have a three year old daughter...

The TMZ report yesterday that ruined Ray Rice

This is what a two game suspension looks like -- Ray Rice delivering a vicious punch to his fiancee's face, knocking her out cold ... and TMZ Sports has the shocking video.

We've already shown you the aftermath outside the elevator ... Rice dragging the unconscious woman on the floor.  But we've now obtained video of the punch that put her down, raising the question ...
 What was the NFL thinking when it wrist-slapped Rice with such feeble punishment?

The incident took place Feb. 15th at the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City -- after Ray and then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Palmer got into a heated argument on their way into the elevator.

Inside the elevator it's apparent he strikes first ... she hits back ... and then Rice delivers the knockout blow.

The punch knocks Janay off her feet -- and she smashes her head on the elevator hand rail ... knocking her out cold. Ray doesn't seem phased ... and when the door opens, he drags her out into the hotel.
An employee of the hotel -- tells TMZ Sports he was working there at the time and says the NFL saw the elevator footage before imposing the 2-game suspension.

FYI -- Ray and Janay got married one month after the attack.

UPDATE -- The NFL says it did NOT see the newly-released elevator footage before it imposed a 2 game suspension on Rice.