Why Did Donald Trump Appear In The New ‘Amanda Knox’ Documentary?

Following the release of the Amanda Knox documentary on Netflix, some were surprised to see a clip of Donald Trump. The new documentary follows the life of Knox after she was wrongly convicted of the murder of her roommate and fellow student, Meredith Kercher, in 2007.

Amanda Knox directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn opted to incorporate several news clips in the documentary, and one of those featured Trump urging U.S. President Barack Obama to boycott Italy for the wrongful imprisonment of Knox. In 2011, the presidential nominee took to Twitter to express his sentiment.

Everyone should boycott Italy if Amanda Knox is not freed—she is totally innocent.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2011

Knox, who hails from Washington, decided to speak out in the new documentary because she wants people to know her struggles. The 29-year-old told Good Morning America that she used to be a regular kid.

“What I’m trying to convey is a regular person like me, just a kid who was studying abroad who loves languages, could be caught up in this nightmare where they’re portrayed as something they’re not. I think I’m trying to explain what it feels like to be wrongfully convicted, to either be this terrible monster or to be just a regular person who is vulnerable.”

British student Kercher was found dead in an apartment in Perugia, Italy and Knox was convicted by the Italian court for the killing. After spending four years in prison, she returned to the U.S. only to be convicted again in 2014. A year later, Italy’s highest court overturned the ruling.

Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s then boyfriend, and Rudy Guede also appeared in the documentary. The two men were convicted as well. Sollecito was released from prison while Guede’s still completing a 16-year prison sentence. Recently, Knox confessed that she initially lied to the Italian authorities because of their coercive interrogation tactics. Her first statement was that she had spent the night at Sollectio’s place. She then changed her story and said she was in the apartment when Kercher was murdered.

Knox claimed that during the 53-hour interrogation, she wasn’t only yelled at but was also hit on the head because the police believed she had amnesia and that she needed to refresh her brain.

Through the Amanda Knox documentary, she wants everyone to use “humanity” instead of “demonizing” the convicted. “I think that it’s our moral duty to examine the cases of a wrongfully convicted person from the perspective of their humanity,” she said.

Knox appreciates how the documentary turned out.

“What I really appreciate about this documentary is that it’s good journalism, in the sense that they give you the reliable facts of the case and they say, ‘Decide for yourself.’ By showing who was a part of it, not just me, not just my co-defendant but also the prosecutor and the media, they’re shedding more light on what happened than all the speculation that’s been put out there combined.”

At the height of the case, tabloids branded her as “Foxy Knoxy” because of her seemingly inappropriate gestures at court, specifically her smiles. Amanda Knox did not show such things. The Knox featured in the documentary is now a woman who seems to be traumatized by what happened to her.

However, Kercher’s family does not have a part in the documentary. Knox described that “the really sad part about the tragedy” is that everyone made it all about her. Instead of focusing on the victim, Kercher got “lost” because some got too absorbed fabricating tales about Knox.

After graduating from the University of Washington, she now writes for a local newspaper. Knox’s next plan is to attend graduate school although she will continue using her voice for people who have similar stories. She said she’s “healed” because of people who continuously support her.

Amanda Knox has been available on Netflix since Sept. 30.

[Featured Image by Ralph Freso/Getty Images]