Donald Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation on Monday, March 18, over the anchor's interview with Representative Nancy Mace earlier this month.
During the interview, Stephanopoulos played a video in which Mace said she was a victim of rape. “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?” he asked her.
Mace replied, “I’ve lived for 30 years with an incredible amount of shame over being raped. I didn’t come forward because of that judgment and shame that I felt. And it is a shame that you will never feel, George. And I am not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim.”
“He defended himself over that and denies that it ever happened, but he was not found guilty in a criminal court of law," she added.
In the 20-page compliant, filed in Florida, Trump argued that the TV star tarnished his reputation by saying that a jury found him liable for raping writerE. Jean Carroll when the jury only found him liable for "sexual abuse."
Trump's attorney Alejandro Brito accused Stephanopoulos of making false statements “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth.”
“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 stated.
Trump's team reached out to ABC News after the interview and asked for a retraction and apology, but they didn't oblige, the lawsuit states.
“ABC News has no comment,” a network spokesperson told The Daily Beast.
The businessman asked for an unspecified amount of damages in the lawsuit.
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AsOK! previously reported, a New York jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million in damages for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her. In another lawsuit brought by Carroll, who claimed Trump sexually abused her in a New York department store, a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to Carroll, however, Trump has appealed.