Trump files defamation lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos and ABC News over Nancy Mace interview

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump named ABC News and George Stephanopoulos in a lawsuit Monday that accused the defendants of defamation and tarnishing Trump’s reputation.

The legal action was filed in Miami on the heels of the viral Stephanopoulos interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), during which the journalist said Trump had been found “liable for rape,” according to a report.

“I’m asking a very simple question,” Stephanopoulos told Mace, who is a victim of rape. “I’m asking a question about why you endorse someone who has been found liable for rape. … Just answer the question.”

Stephanopoulos’s errant assertion that the former president was found “liable for rape” refers to Trump’s case against E. Jean Carroll, where Trump was found liable for “sexual abuse” and not rape. 

Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito alleges in a now-filed 20-page complaint that Stephanopoulos made the claims “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth,” the report noted.