President Donald Trump sparked swift backlash Friday after saying he “feels badly” for the suspects accused in the Cornell University rape case because New York Attorney General Letitia James is now overseeing the investigation.
“Letitia James is a corrupt person. She’s totally corrupt, and I can’t imagine it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “And I feel badly for whoever she’s looking at, because they won’t get a fair shake.”
James was appointed special prosecutor Thursday to investigate allegations that a former Cornell student was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in 2024, according to media reports.
Trump’s remarks Friday quickly ignited outrage online.
“Disgusting,” the progressive group American Bridge 21st Century wrote. “Not one word for the victim."
Freelance politics writer Nick Field posted: “A White House of the rapists, by the rapists, for the rapists.”
Democratic communications strategist J.J. Abbott offered a shorter but similar reaction: “From one abuser to another.”
“Rape empathy,” longtime Dallas Cowboys reporter Clarence Hill Jr. wrote on X.
Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, called Trump’s remarks the “most unsurprising news ever.”
“Adjudicated rapist sympathizes with alleged rapists instead of rape victim,” she said in a social media post.
Trump later doubled down on his comments. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump took another swipe at James.
“Why would the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, appoint a Corrupt Prosecutor, Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James, to represent the State in the highly controversial Cornell University rape case?”
The remarks come a day after Trump acknowledged he didn’t “know that much about” the case when asked by reporters, but added that Cornell is “a fine school.”
Disgusting. Trump says he feels bad for the seven Cornell students accused of rape, and his biggest worry is that they "won't get a fair shake" with Letitia James as special prosecutor.
Not one word for the victim. pic.twitter.com/zaVlKse42s
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) October 2, 2026