Donald Trump Files Defamation Suit Against ABC News, George Stephanopoulos After Host Accused Him of Rape

By WENDELL HUSEBØ

President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against ABC News and its network anchor George Stephanopoulos, alleging his reputation was besmirched by Stephanopoulos’s claim that a jury found Trump “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll case.

• The incident occurred during Stephanopoulos’s interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on March 10. Stephanopoulos said during the interview, “Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”

  Neither Stephanopoulos nor ABC News issued a correction or apology as of Tuesday morning.

  Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, said in a 20-page complaint that Stephanopoulos made the false statements “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth,” the Hill reported.

  “Indeed, the jury expressly found that Plaintiff did not commit rape and, as demonstrated below, Defendant George Stephanopoulos was aware of the jury’s finding in this regard yet still falsely stated otherwise,” Brito added.

  The complaint asked for an unspecified amount of damages.

  

  George Stephanopoulos is seen outside “Good Morning America” on February 5, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

  “Stephanopoulos didn’t just say Trump was ‘liable’ for rape,” Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak explained. “That would be wrong, but he could have hid behind the judge’s claim that ‘sexual abuse’ is the same, colloquially, as rape. ⁦He specifically said a JURY found Trump liable. It did the opposite.”

  I said at the time Trump had a defamation case against @GStephanopoulos and @ABC over the false claim a jury found him liable for rape (in reality, NOT liable). That's basically defamation "per se." Now Trump has sued. He often does. This time he's right. https://t.co/HTfYpIpSFx
  
  — Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) March 19, 2024