Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump faced a challenging day during his debate with Kamala Harris. Amid the busy event, Yusef Salaam, a member of the “Central Park Five,” confronted Trump over a statement he had made.
Salaam, one of the Black and Hispanic youths whom Trump once called to be executed for a crime from which they were later exonerated, did not let the matter slide. He left no room for Trump to maneuver when they met on the sidelines of the debate on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
The encounter began when Trump unexpectedly appeared in the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where his and Harris’s surrogates were making their case for their candidates’ debate performances.
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During an interview, as a reporter seemed poised to ask a follow-up question, Trump spotted Salaam, now an elected member of New York City‘s council, a Democrat, and one of Harris’s campaign allies scheduled for post-debate interviews.
Upon noticing Salaam, several reporters, including NBC’s Peter Alexander, asked Trump whether he would apologize or say anything to Salaam.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Trump recognized Salaam’s presence, but he grinned and pointed at him, quipping, “That’s good, you’re on my side!”
Recalling their shared history, Salaam laughed along with some of the reporters and replied, “No, no, I’m not on your side!”
Trump then waved and moved on to answer questions from other reporters.
The moment was striking because just earlier, Harris had criticized Trump for having called for the execution of Salaam and four others on false charges. Trump’s only acknowledgment of the incident was a dismissive remark suggesting that Democrats were dredging up old issues to attack him. He also mentioned that then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat, had “agreed” with his assessment of the case. Bloomberg had indeed blocked a multimillion-dollar settlement related to the wrongful convictions.
“A lot of people, including Mayor Bloomberg, agreed with me on the Central Park Five,” Trump had said during the debate.
Harris responded by condemning Trump, stating, “It’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people.”
Watch Trump and Salaam’s encounter below.
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