Staff Reports
It seems that George Stephanopoulos and ABC News have discovered a new way to pay for their “news” reporting, and it’s not in clicks or good ratings. They’ve agreed to cough up a whopping $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit stemming from one of Stephanopoulos’s infamous interviews. The network, known for its partisan antics, is officially handing over the cash as a generous “charitable contribution” to a presidential foundation, presumably hoping to write it off like a nice tax deduction.
In addition to that hefty sum, ABC will also be parting with an extra $1 million of their precious corporate dollars to cover Trump’s legal fees. Why? Because apparently, they thought it was acceptable to hurl false accusations during a live interview, which, as everyone knows, is never a good idea – unless, of course, you’re part of the mainstream media that operates under different rules.
The original sin committed by ABC occurred during a charming little tête-à-tête between Stephanopoulos and U.S. Representative Nancy Mace. Throughout this delightful exchange, Stephanopoulos kept repeating the ludicrous claim that Trump had been found guilty of “rape” by a jury in the E. Jean Carroll case. Forgetting, of course, that Trump had been found liable for something other than actual rape. It’s as if ABC drew its conclusions from an episode of popular crime drama rather than facts presented in a courtroom.
Despite the lack of evidence (no witnesses and a timeline that might as well have been written by a committee of Hollywood scriptwriters), this farce led to a New York jury deciding that Trump should part with over $80 million in damages. Yet, in a twist that must leave the left seething, the jury never actually determined that Trump raped Carroll – instead, a later judge just called the claim “substantially true.” A real marvel of legal acrobatics that does wonders for the credibility of the court system.
JUST IN: ABC Agrees To Settle Defamation Suit With Trump, Will Pay Millionshttps://t.co/kUNmimX3po
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) December 14, 2024
In his lawsuit against ABC, Trump hammered home that Stephanopoulos’s comments were “false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm.” Not exactly the kind of phrase that invokes a sense of journalistic integrity, but then again, who in the liberal media world cares about that? The judge had previously tossed the network’s motion to dismiss, reasoning that their story fell flat due to the civil ruling. It turns out opinions and defamation can lead to costly consequences when one is brave enough to challenge the status quo.
So, in a classic case of the liberal establishment sticking its foot in it, ABC News now finds itself paying for the sins of its reckless reporting. The resulting legal negotiations may just serve as a cautionary tale for those in the media who think they can act above the law. As this saga continues to unfold, the laughter at the expense of the mainstream media grows just a little louder.
