One of the few senators to wholeheartedly back GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the nominee as a “law and order” candidate for paying for an ad calling for the death penalty of five young men in their mid-teens who were wrongfully accused of raping a woman.

In an interview caught by Buzzfeed, southern Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) lauded Trump for his speech aimed at the African-American community Tuesday night in Wisconsin.

ADVERTISEMENT

“That speech was great, and Trump has always been this way,” Sessions told the hosts of the Matt & Aunie radio show.

“He bought an ad — people say he wasn’t a conservative — but he bought an ad 20 years ago in the New York Times calling for the death penalty,” he continued. “How many people in New York, that liberal bastion, were willing to do something like that? So he believes in law and order and he has the strength and will to make this country safer.”

Sessions was referring to an ad Trump took out in the New York Times over 20 years ago, with a bold headline reading “Bring the death penalty back!” aimed at the five young black and Hispanic men who were accused of raping a white woman who came to be known as the “Central Park jogger.”

All of the young men were later exonerated by the city of New York after serving time in prison, and were recipients of a payout in the millions for their wrongful conviction.

Upon news of the settlement, Trump jumped back into the fray again, calling the payout, “a disgrace.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Listen to audio of Session’s interview below: