Former President Trump filed a lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos, claiming they ruined his reputation by questioning Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) about her support for Trump.
The interview on “This Week” on March 10 gained attention after Mace, who had survived a sexual assault, accused Stephanopoulos of trying to shame her. Stephanopoulos probed Mace about her endorsement of Trump despite recent verdicts in sexual assault and defamation lawsuits against him.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed on Monday, targets Stephanopoulos for repeatedly stating that Trump had been found “liable for rape,” despite the fact that the jury found him liable for sexual abuse but not rape.
During the interview, Stephanopoulos asked, “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?”
Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, stated in the 20-page complaint that Stephanopoulos made false statements with actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth. The complaint asks for unspecified damages.
Brito further pointed out that the jury expressly found that Trump did not commit rape, and Stephanopoulos was aware of this finding and still falsely stated otherwise.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Miami.
ABC News declined to respond.
This is not the first time Trump has sued media outlets for defamation. He unsuccessfully sued The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post in the past.
Trump also tried to countersue Carroll herself for continuing to accuse him of rape on cable news after the jury’s verdict.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the litigation, rejected Trump’s counterclaims, ruling that describing it as a rape was still substantially true.
Judge Kaplan ruled that the difference between Carroll’s allegedly defamatory statements and the truth was minimal.
