President-elect Donald Trump won a defamation lawsuit against ABC News: details and outcome
15 december 2024 в 21:37
President-elect Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News in March, and the case has now been settled.
Learn more about the lawsuit and its outcome below.
Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos after the ABC News anchor stated during a televised interview in March that Trump had been «found responsible for rape» in a civil case. The remark was made during a heated exchange between Stephanopoulos and Representative Nancy Mace, a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina, after Mace discussed her experience as a rape victim.
After showing a clip, Stephanopoulos questioned Mace about her support for Trump, stating that judges and two different juries had found Trump «responsible for rape and defamation of the victim of that rape». This comment referred to the legal victory of Trump’s accuser, E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated this statement several times during the interview, despite the fact that Trump had only been found responsible for sexual assault, not rape, in a 2023 case filed by the writer. Under New York state law, sexual assault is distinct from rape. In a subsequent ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan clarified that while Carroll did not prove rape «in the sense of New York criminal law», - this does not mean that Trump did not «rape» her in a broader, commonly understood sense of the term.
The network agreed to pay Donald Trump $ 15 million as part of the settlement, with the funds earmarked for donation to a fund dedicated to a «presidential library and museum» for Trump. Additionally, the settlement includes a payment of $ 1 million to cover Trump’s legal expenses, as well as an official apology from ABC News.
An editorial note was also added to the article from March 10, 2024, published online. It states: «ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret the statements made regarding President Donald J. Trump during George Stephanopoulos' interview with Representative Nancy Mace on This Week on ABC on March 10, 2024»
Learn more about the lawsuit and its outcome below.
Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos after the ABC News anchor stated during a televised interview in March that Trump had been «found responsible for rape» in a civil case. The remark was made during a heated exchange between Stephanopoulos and Representative Nancy Mace, a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina, after Mace discussed her experience as a rape victim.
After showing a clip, Stephanopoulos questioned Mace about her support for Trump, stating that judges and two different juries had found Trump «responsible for rape and defamation of the victim of that rape». This comment referred to the legal victory of Trump’s accuser, E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated this statement several times during the interview, despite the fact that Trump had only been found responsible for sexual assault, not rape, in a 2023 case filed by the writer. Under New York state law, sexual assault is distinct from rape. In a subsequent ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan clarified that while Carroll did not prove rape «in the sense of New York criminal law», - this does not mean that Trump did not «rape» her in a broader, commonly understood sense of the term.
The network agreed to pay Donald Trump $ 15 million as part of the settlement, with the funds earmarked for donation to a fund dedicated to a «presidential library and museum» for Trump. Additionally, the settlement includes a payment of $ 1 million to cover Trump’s legal expenses, as well as an official apology from ABC News.
An editorial note was also added to the article from March 10, 2024, published online. It states: «ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret the statements made regarding President Donald J. Trump during George Stephanopoulos' interview with Representative Nancy Mace on This Week on ABC on March 10, 2024»
© Puhova Marina
