According to a Fox News report, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos ignored news of his network’s massive defamation settlement with President-elect Donald Trump on his Sunday show, This Week, over the weekend.
Stephanopoulos also quit social media platform X shortly following the settlement’s announcement.
According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees.
From Fox News:
Stephanopoulos was the focus of the lawsuit after he asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case during a contentious interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., last 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?”
“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 ten times during his 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.
Mace celebrated the defamation suit win on X, predicting 2025 would be the “year of apologies.”
“First The View and now ABC News. We are SO back. 2025 will be the year of MSM apologies,” the South Carolina Rep. wrote on X.
