Trump claims 'a lot of people agreed' with his call to execute Central Park 5 who were later exonerated

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Former president Donald Trump is no stranger to controversy, but his comments on the Central Park Five case during his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris have sparked quite a pushback.

Trump once infamously called for the death penalty for the five innocent teenagers accused of rape. On Tuesday, September 10, he doubled down on his stance by saying, “A lot of people agreed with me.” His critics, however, did not take kindly to this.

Kamala Harris attacks Donald Trump on Central Park Five

Vice President Kamala Harris took the opportunity on Tuesday, September 10 night to call out Donald Trump’s history of discrimination based on race. She described his track record as “tragic.”

Harris accused the former president of discrimination against Black tenants in his father’s buildings. She then brought up his infamous call for the execution of the “Exonerated Five” – the teens previously known as the Central Park Five.

The VP put it bluntly, “I think the American people want better than that, want better than this.”

Let’s rewind to 1989 when Trump took out a full-page ad in several New York City newspapers. In it, he demanded the return of the death penalty specifically for the Central Park Five—a group of four Black teenagers and one Latino teen falsely accused of raping a jogger in Central Park.

Despite their eventual exoneration, Trump has never apologized for his comments. He stuck to his guns and refused to walk back his comments even during the debate.

“They admitted, they said, they pled guilty, and I said, ‘Well if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person — killed a person ultimately,” he said, adding, "A lot of people, including Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg, agreed with me on the Central Park Five." It’s a claim that many find hard to swallow, especially given the facts of the case.

Here’s the kicker: DNA evidence eventually linked a serial rapist to the crime, proving the Central Park Five’s innocence. Yet, these teenagers spent years behind bars before their convictions were overturned in 2002. The City of New York later paid the men a whopping $41 million in a legal settlement.

One of the wrongfully accused, Yusef Salaam, is now a New York City Council member. He didn’t hold back on his criticism of Trump during the recent Democratic National Convention.

“Forty-five wanted us unalived,” Salaam said, referring to Trump as the 45th president. “He wanted us dead. Today, we are exonerated because the actual perpetrator confessed and DNA proved it." Salaam added, “That guy says he still stands by the original guilty verdict.”

Donald Trump slammed on social media for his comments

As expected, many people on social media were quick to slam Donald Trump for his refusal to back down from his stance about the  Central Park Five.

"Trump’s claim about widespread agreement on the Central Park Five is deeply flawed. The reality is that he fueled a dangerous and unjust campaign against five innocent Black teens, which was widely condemned except by the racists among us," one user posted on X.

"I didn’t notice 'a lot of people' taking out full-page ads in the New York Times like Trump did exclaiming they should be executed," another wrote.

"It’s a lie they never pled guilty and the real perpetrators admitted to the crime and the DNA proved their innocence. DJT is a vicious vindictive liar who refuses to admit when he’s wrong," one person said.

"He's just incapable of backing down or admitting a mistake, even when that would clearly be the better strategic choice," read another person's comment.

"He uses 'a lot of people agreed with me' a lot, as if that alters law or facts. It's crucial to him that 'a lot of people agree' with him," someone else quipped.

"I always thought the Central Park 5 issue all alone should be unforgivable and disqualifying, and that’s only one out of 1000 unforgivable, disqualifying Trump issues," another commented.

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