A Florida judge rejected ABC's motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against the Disney-owned network and its anchor George Stephanopolous by former President Trump, allowing it to move forward.
The lawsuit stems from comments Stephanopoulos made in March when he falsely asserted that Trump was found "liable for rape" in a civil case against the Republican White House hopeful.
"A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context. But a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate," Judge Cecilia Altonaga of United States District Court in Miami ruled Wednesday.
TRUMP SUES ABC NEWS, GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS FOR DEFAMATION
Trump touted the ruling on Truth Social, writing, "A BIG WIN TODAY IN HIGH FLORIDA COURT AGAINST ABC FAKE NEWS, AND LIDDLE’ GEORGE SLOPADOPOLUS. A POWERFUL CASE! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE FORCED BY THE COURTS TO START TELLING THE TRUTH. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA2024!"
ABC News declined to comment.
Stephanopoulos' comments were made during a tense exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on his Sunday program "This Week" in March.
After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, "How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?"
ABC HAS TO STAND BY GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS AS TRUMP SUES FOR DEFAMATION, LEGAL GURU SAYS
"You've endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape," Stephanopoulos said, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated that claim a whopping ten times during his ugly spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually determined Trump was liable for "sexual abuse," which has a distinct definition under New York law.
The ABC News anchor remained defiant about the lawsuit during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in May.
"Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen," Stephanopoulos said. "We filed a motion to dismiss."
After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a later ruling that just because Carroll failed to prove rape "within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’"
Days before Wednesday's ruling, Trump suggested he was scrapping ABC's scheduled presidential debate he agreed to participate in with President Biden, who dramatically exited the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, and floated that Fox News should host a debate instead.
"My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you!," Trump posted on Sunday.
FOX News Media sent formal letters to both the Trump and Harris campaigns proposing its own debate in September.
"Now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee, FOX News Media is amending our proposal for a debate this cycle. Given the race has changed, we’d like to request the opportunity to host a Presidential Debate between VP Harris and former President Trump," the letters sent to each campaign, signed by FOX News Media President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace and FOX News Vice President of Politics Jessica Loker, stated Wednesday.
"We propose to host the debate in the state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 17, just as early voting is getting underway there and in other key battlegrounds. We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location — with or without an audience," Wallace and Loker continued. "Again, we believe Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the faces of our political coverage, are the best choices to moderate."
