Donald Trump stated he felt badly for the men accused in the Cornell rape case.
Posted by The Briefing with Jen Psaki, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Briefing with Jen PsakiOct 23, 2026
Multiple reports quote Trump saying on October 2, 2026, that he feels "badly for whoever she's looking at because they won't get a fair shake," which outlets identify as the seven accused Cornell men.
What was said
… And when it comes to allegations of abuse, what we're seeing, and you've just touched on this a bit, but I just wanted to hold the thread on it a little bit more, is Trump almost always says he feels badly for the accused rather than the accuser. He said he felt badly for the men accused in the Cornell rape case. He said he felt badly for Congressman Max Miller after the abuse allegations against him. He posted today a lengthy post, which I'm not going to read the whole thing, but some of it is, frankly, "Anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would …
The Briefing with Jen Psaki · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters quotes Trump saying, "And I feel badly for whoever she's looking at because they won't get a fair shake," in remarks to reporters on Friday about the Cornell case.[1]
Supports. Raw Story and The Independent report that Trump said he feels badly for the men under investigation or accused in the Cornell gang rape case, tying the quote to the seven accused men.[2][3]
Supports. People and ABC News 4 both identify the people Trump was sympathizing with as the seven men known as the Cornell 7, accused in the civil suit by Jane Doe.[4][5]
Context. Trump's remark was made in the context of criticizing Letitia James as corrupt, and he did not name the men directly; the claim's dropped qualifier about the fair-shake reasoning is a faithful omission.[1][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 3, 4 not rated
- 1Woman at center of Cornell rape allegations targeted with threats, lawyer saysreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Trump: 'I feel badly' for Cornell rape suspects - Raw Storyrawstory.com · tier 3 · cited for: supports
- 3Trump says ‘I feel badly’ for accused Cornell gang rapists ...independent.co.uk · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Trump Says He Feels ‘Badly’ for Cornell 7,’ Insults Letitia Jamespeople.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Trump says Cornell 7 'won't get a fair shake' in rape case under ...abcnews4.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Trump says 'I feel badly' for Cornell 7 accused in gang rape casesyracuse.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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