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“Central Park 5” is suing Trump. But he will never admit that he lied

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“Central Park 5” is suing Trump. But he will never admit that he lied

Trump's 1989 newspaper ads were bait for racists, the beginnings of his base. Will he finally be held accountable after 67 million debate viewers saw him repeat his lies about the Exonerated Five?

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Donald Trump's notorious inability to acknowledge a mistake – even when everyone else can clearly see how wrong he is – is now likely to cost him dearly in another lawsuit.

It is also likely to cost him the support of black and Latino voters.

You may remember the names Antron Brown (formerly known as Antron McCray), Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise from the undeserved nickname given to black and Latino teenagers 35 years ago – “The Central Park Five “. They now prefer the term “Exonerated Five” because their convictions for two assaults and a rape in 1989 were overturned in 2002.

They sued Trump in federal court in Philadelphia on Monday for defamation after he falsely claimed during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month that they had pleaded guilty to an indictment and killed someone. They pleaded not guilty and no one was killed in the attacks that sparked the controversy.

New York acknowledged the tragedy in its treatment of the five people, who were 14 to 16 years old at the time of their arrest, by paying them $41 million to settle a lawsuit in 2014. In a statement, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “The city had a moral obligation to right this wrong.

Trump has never been able to muster the character necessary to fulfill any notion of moral obligation. It is now and always has been far outside the realm of his selfish, narcissistic personality.

Donald Trump can't stop accusing the Central Park Five of a crime

Trump, who used the 1989 Central Park attacks to draw attention to himself, took out full-page ads in New York newspapers in the weeks afterward with the headline “Bring Back the Death Penalty.” Trump, as outlined in the lawsuit filed Monday, has a long history of continuing to accuse the five men of criminal behavior even after they were exonerated.

Harris made this point during the Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News in a segment on “Race and Politics.” Her opponent naturally became defensive and then said a lot of things that weren't true.

“They admitted – they said they pleaded guilty. And I said, well, if they plead guilty, they're going to seriously injure a person, ultimately kill them,” Trump lied during the debate stage.

The complaint filed against him on Monday said Trump attacked a documentary about the men's exoneration, meaning he had the facts and could have told the truth.

Opinion: With an unpredictable election, one thing is certain: Trump will lie about it

But to do that, Trump would have to acknowledge that he was wrong. He lacks the character for that.

Shanin Specter, a lawyer for the five men, said they didn't bother to give Trump a chance to apologize or retract what he said in the debate because of his history of their exoneration, they knew that “there was no chance” of that happening.

“He’s been single-minded about this for 35 years,” Specter told me. “And he didn’t let the facts get in the way of his narrative.”

Trump asked the lawyer who filed the lawsuit to respond to the lawsuit

So eager to prove the lawyer's point, Trump's re-election campaign responded to the complaint by dismissing it as “just another frivolous election interference lawsuit from desperate left-wing activists” and attempting to link it to Harris and her campaign.

Specter told me that the complaint, which was written to avoid any unnecessary political language, was about seeking “redress in court.”

“It would have been nice if Mr. Trump's lawyer had responded to this to say whether it was true or false,” Specter said.

Opinion: Michigan and Wisconsin are crucial for Harris. GOP groups want to help her win.

Trump has a lot of lawyers and he keeps them busy.

Some of them lost the May 2023 civil case holding Trump liable for sexual assault on writer E. Jean Carroll, which was awarded $5 million by a New York jury. Trump's lawyers also lost the follow-up defamation case Carroll brought against Trump, which resulted in another $83 million verdict in January.

That's why Trump, who a jury found sexually assaulted Carroll, has falsely accused the “Exonerated Five” of sexual assault and other violence for years. He is exactly the kind of person he claims to despise.

Will Trump ever be held accountable for this?

Two things can be true at the same time. This lawsuit can have nothing to do with the election. But there may be consequences if Trump tries to expand his support among black and Latino voters.

Trump's appeal to hate in his 1989 newspaper ads always had the stench of racism, an undercurrent in his pursuit of attention just below the surface. His public statements were bait for racists, the beginning of his base.

Maybe it's finally time for him to be held accountable after 67 million debate viewers saw Trump repeat his lies about the Exonerated Five.

“It’s devastating for them,” Specter said. “They need to clear their name again. Now he has been defamed in front of 67 million people. And it just never stops.”

Salaam, now 50, is a member of the New York City Council. He came to Philadelphia for the debate last month and tried to talk to Trump in the “Spin Room” afterward, asking if he would “apologize to the Exonerated Five.”

“Ah, then you’re on my side,” Trump replied in what felt like the millionth moment of evidence that his mind was completely out of control. Then he waved and walked away while Salaam repeated his apology.

I hope we're seeing the whole Trump show here – a trial with an elderly defendant who can't stay awake until a jury holds him accountable in the only way that gets his attention: by shutting him up force money. Trump will not be able to move away from this.

Follow USA TODAY election columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan

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