ABC News, George Stephanopoulos Have Given Trump an Early Christmas
ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos recently settled a lawsuit with President-elect Donald Trump.
The terms of the agreement have the defendants in the suit forking over $15 million to our nation's incoming 47th commander in chief.
The money purportedly designated for a future presidential library or similar endeavor.
Also included in the settlement is a forced payment of $1 million of Trump’s legal fees and a big crow-eating apology.
Mr. Trump had filed a lawsuit over an interview that Stephanopoulos had conducted with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
During the Mace interview, the former Clinton administration operative repeatedly made the false allegation that Trump had been found liable for rape in a civil case that was initiated by E. Jean Carroll and took place in a New York courtroom earlier in the year.
Rep. Mace, a rape survivor herself, was being interrogated on her endorsement of Trump, and Stephanopoulos was evidently trying to paint her as a hypocrite.
She felt personally attacked by Stephanopoulos and was brave enough to directly take him on at the time.
"I live with shame," she said. "And you’re asking me a question about my political choices, trying to shame me as a rape victim — I find it disgusting."
Most viewers did as well.
At that point ABC News had a serious problem.
Shortly after the interview aired, Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against both the network and the anchor.
Stephanopoulos subsequently appeared on a politically friendly late-night show with host Stephen Colbert, posturing about the then-pending defamation legal action and boasting that he would not be "cowed out of doing my job because of a threat."
All things considered, the most compelling part of the Trump win came in the portion of the settlement in which both ABC News and Stephanopoulos agreed to issue apology statements, expressing regret surrounding the case.
Both the settlement agreement and apology statements have already had far-reaching effects. Stephanopoulos has deactivated his X account and left the platform.
While the settlement has been heralded by center-right folks, it has also been viewed as the end of Western Civilization by the compromised media crowd and woke mob gang.
Regarding the settlement, reporter Oliver Willis wrote on Threads, "This is actually how democracy dies."
Sharon Waxman, editor in chief of the Hollywood trade outlet TheWrap, wrote. "This is both confusing and disheartening. #Disney and #ABC caving to Trump."
Democratic attorney Marc Elias posted, "Knee bent. Ring kissed. Another legacy news outlet chooses obedience."
CNN media analyst Brian Stelter asked on X, "Why did ABC agree to pay and apologize? The network won’t say. It could have kept fighting in court, but decided to pay $$ to end the dispute and make the case go away."
NPR TV critic Eric Deggans wrote on his X account, "Wow. Feels like one more mainstream news organization bending the knee."
Keith Olbermann sarcastically posted, "What a great look @abc News."
Left-leaning legal analyst Allison Gill, known online as Mueller, She Wrote posted, "This is so gross. Why not depose him [Trump]?"she asked.
"The case wouldn't cost more than $15M and ABC would have won if they bothered fighting."
Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid characterized the settlement as "the cowardice of legacy media out to make profit, rather than uphold principle."
Here in the United States, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) made it far more difficult for public figures, as opposed to ordinary folks, to sue for defamation.
This is not the case in many other parts of the world.
The timing of the ABC-Stephanopoulos settlement is interesting to say the least.
It occurred a few short days after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid ordered the president elect, and more importantly Stephanopoulos, to submit to depositions of four hours in length.
The ABC News-Stephanopoulos settlement sends a powerful message. It's one that says news personalities, especially those who work for far-left media outlets, can no longer broadcast false claims in the cavalier manner that they have become accustomed to.
An early Christmas present for those who value truth in news reporting.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.
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