Vice President Kamala Harris took the time to remind voters of former President Donald Trump’s role in trying to keep the now-Exonerated Five behind bars during the second presidential debates, NBC News reports.
Harris and Trump faced off for the first time during a debate on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, where moderators and ABC Correspondents David Muir and Linsey Davis posed numerous questions concerning Americans nationwide. During the segment surrounding race relations and Trump’s controversial disputes against Harris’ Black identity, the VP used her time at the podium to point out that the four-time indicted businessman has had a bumpy history with race, describing it as “tragic.”
She highlighted one major factor against her opponent, looping in how he called for the “Exonerated Five,” previously known as the “Central Park Five,” to face the death penalty during the 1989 case that rocked New York City and the nation. “Honestly, I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president, who consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people. You know, I do believe that the vast majority of us know that we do have so much more in common than what separates us…,” Harris said.
“And
let’s remember how Donald Trump started. He owned land…he owned buildings. And he was investigated because he refused to rent property to Black families. This is the same individual who took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, calling for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys who were innocent…the Central Park Five.”More than 30 years ago, Trump took out a full-page advertisement to be circulated in NYC-based newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty for the teenagers falsely accused of raping a white jogger in Central Park. All five convictions were overturned.
During the debate, he
continued his refusal. “They admitted, they said, they pled guilty, and I said, ‘Well if they plead guilty, they badly hurt a person — killed a person ultimately,” he said, adding that “a lot of people,” including former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, agreed with him.The former president never apologized and has openly refused to backstep from his actions, even when he was face-to-face with a member of the exonerated group. According to The Independent, Yusef Salaam was backstage in the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, used by the candidate’s campaign surrogates. As Trump turned toward Salaam, now an elected member of New York City’s Council, a host of reporters asked him if he would apologize. In response, the GOP candidate grinned and pointed at Salaam, saying, “That’s good, you’re on my side!”
The council member shot back with, “No, no, I’m not on your side!”
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