(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump is suing ABC News and its anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation, claiming comments made by Stephanopoulos during an on-air interview with South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace on March 10 were harmful to his reputation.
The former president filed the defamation lawsuit Monday, arguing Stephanopoulos harmed his reputation by repeatedly saying Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, the New York Times reported.
However, the Manhattan jury concluded Trump defamed Carroll in 2022 and sexually abused her in 1996, but did not find him liable for raping her according to how rape was defined in New York state. The judge also said afterward that the jury’s findings were consistent with how rape is defined in some jurisdictions.
Last week, Mace accused Stephanopoulos of trying to “bully” her during an interview on March 10 when he pressed her on why she endorsed Trump, especially after he was found liable for sexual battery in a defamation lawsuit with E. Jean Carroll last year.
Stephanopoulos opened the interview by playing a clip from 2019 of her delivering testimony about being a victim of rape. Mace criticized Stephanopoulos for “shaming” her by asking why she supported Trump throughout her appearance on ABC.
Stephanopoulos argued that his question was not meant to “shame” her and, at one point, called her “courageous” for coming forward as he continued to press her on the question.
She told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert on “On Balance” the next day that she thought she was going to talk about the 2024 elections, not about her testimony about being raped.
“So I was all ready to talk about Donald Trump versus Joe Biden and the 2024 race for the general election. The president had just given his State of the Union, you know; all of that I would imagine would have come into a conversation about 2024. But the guy literally led with me being raped. And you can see the pain on my face,” she said, adding that it is “painful” to watch the testimony.
She said, “Every woman in this country should be offended by the interview and then by the reaction.” She said on Fox News’s “The Faulkner Focus” on Monday that Stephanopoulos “tried to bully” her during the interview.
Mace also described how she left things with Stephanopoulos after the interview as “very awkward,” saying the ABC host was “angry.”
“I won’t be going back on ABC anytime soon. I told him as I was walking out, ‘Good effing luck getting me back on,’” she told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert on “On Balance.”
The Hill contributed to this report.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25454304/440223488_992114806253502_1323762936180327267_n.jpg)
