Trump Reaffirms Controversial Stance on Central Park Five During Debate

Former President Donald Trump defends his decades-old call for the death penalty for five wrongfully convicted Black and Latino teenagers, sparking renewed outrage.

During the presidential debate, Trump reiterated his belief that the Central Park Five were guilty, despite their exoneration in 2002.
Trump's statements were in response to Vice President Kamala Harris, who criticized his past actions as racially divisive.
The five men, wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in 1989, were later cleared by DNA evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator.
Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated men and now a New York City Council member, confronted Trump after the debate, rejecting any notion of support for him.
Trump's continued refusal to apologize for his 1989 full-page ad calling for the death penalty has been a recurring issue in his political career.