Trump weighs in after Duke lacrosse accuser admits falsifying rape allegations
WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his criticism of Crystal Mangum, the woman who recently revealed that she lied when accusing three Duke University Lacrosse players of sexual assault and rape in 2006.
“I thought it was a hoax when it happened,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, his members-only club in Palm Beach, Florida. “I didn't believe the woman.”
Mangum, a former exotic dancer, confessed on a podcast appearance last week to fabricating allegations that three Duke Lacrosse players, David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, sexually assaulted and raped her during a party in 2006. Magnum is in prison on unrelated murder charges and was speaking on the online show “Let’s Talk with Kat," hosted by former model Katerena DePasquale.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn't, and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said during the interview.
Trump on Monday reiterated criticism that the accusations “destroyed the lives,” of the three accused men, after he made similar comments in a social media post on Saturday.
“I don't care what they got, their lives have been destroyed,” the president-elect said. “Their lives have been shortened by what took place. And now the woman admitted that it never happened.”
Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann were cleared of any wrongdoing in 2007 by then North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper after substantial questions were raised about Magnum’s accusations. By that point, however, Duke’s men’s lacrosse coach had already resigned and the university had canceled the team's season.
The three men later sued Duke, former University President Richard Brodhead and the City of Durham, North Carolina, where the school is located. Evans graduated from Duke in 2006, Seligmann transferred to Brown University and Finnerty went to Loyaoa University of Maryland after the incident, according to the Duke Chronicle.
“Those kids were beautiful kids with beautiful families,” Trump said of the Duke scandal on Monday. “They were, in some cases, will never be the same."
A federal jury found Trump liable in 2023 in a civil case for sexual abuse and defamation of author E. Jean Carroll in 1996. Overall, the president-elect has faced accusations of sexual misconduct from at least 19 women. The former president has denied any wrongdoing.