No. She is meant to get herself and her daughter to a place of safety, not escalate by assaulting him.
Verbal abuse is utterly disgraceful - but it is not a physical assault which in this case, was quite the escalation.
I don't expect her to tolerate verbal abuse. I don't expect him to tolerate having his face spat on. Nor do I expect any parent to perpetrate any abuse and put their child at risk - both have done exactly that.
The problem is - neither party are doing the right thing for their daughter, and both of them are perpetrating abuse instead. When you're a parent, there becomes a point you have to behave like one, and in this case, the pair of them need to do the right thing here.
Why won't both take some personal responsibility as both are perpetrators? If I have my daughter with me and I'm on the receiving end of verbal abuse by ANYONE, the last thing I'm doing is spitting in their face for fucks sake. Ridiculous, on all counts in this situation. Utterly gross behaviour by both parents whom, let's be reminded, are supposed to be setting an example for their daughter.
Or is that the example? - That we verbally abuse people? Or that when we don't like what someone says to us, we spit in their face? Or if someone spits our face, we return the favour and add in hitting for extra measure? There is no defending any of this. At all.