Donald Trump, the former US president, sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos, alleging that the anchor made defamatory remarks in a heated interview.
During an appearance on “This Week,” Stephanopoulos confronted Republican Representative Nancy Mace, a survivor of sexual assault, about her ongoing backing of Trump following a jury’s conclusion that he had molested writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996, paying her $88 million for defamation and violence. Throughout the interview with Mace, Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed that Trump had “raped” Carroll.
“You endorsed Donald Trump for president. 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 that we just saw?” Stephanopoulos questioned Mace.
The Republican from South Carolina defended her vote for the former US president, claiming that the jury’s verdict was only related to a civil matter. “First of all, it wasn’t a criminal court case,” she informed Stephanopoulos. “Number two, I live with shame. And you’re asking me a question about my political choices trying to shame me as a rape victim.”
Although a federal jury in Manhattan last year concluded that Trump had molested Carroll sexually, which was enough to convict him of battery, the jury did not conclude that Carroll had shown proof that he had raped her. However, the judge in the case decided that the allegation that Trump had raped Carroll was “substantially true,” dismissing a countersuit months later.
Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote “Indeed, the jury’s verdict in Carroll II establishes, as against Mr Trump, the fact that Mr Trump ‘raped her’, albeit digitally rather than with his penis. Thus, it establishes against him the substantial truth of Ms Carroll’s ‘rape’ accusations.”
The allegations made by Trump in his complaint, which was submitted to the Southern District of Florida federal court, are that Stephanopoulos made remarks that were “false, intentional, malicious, and designed to cause harm.”
Trump has a lengthy legal history of suing members of the press. Due to the failure of his case against The New York Times, he was ordered to pay the newspaper $392,000 in legal expenses.
