The National Review claims that former President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the ABC News network and George Stephanopoulos is a “dud.” Andrew C. McCarthy, a contributing editor to the once venerable conservative publication and former Assistant U.S. Attorney, argues Stephanopoulos’s claims that the former President was ‘found liable for rape’ — while ‘inaccurate’ — are not ‘false.’ The ABC News host made the false assertions during a hostile interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in early March.
Earlier this week, attorneys for former President Trump filed a lawsuit against ABC News in response to Stephanopoulos’s claims made during the Mace interview. The National Pulse previously reported that the filing alleges Stephanopoulos and ABC knowingly disseminated false information during the show, “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” mischaracterizing court verdicts and thereby damaging Trump’s public standing. Trump’s attorneys contend that while a civil court found the former President liable for “sexual abuse,” he was not found liable for rape.
McCarthy, however, contends that Stephanopoulos’s distinction between sexual abuse and rape doesn’t constitute defamation. “Nevertheless, inaccurate is not the same as false, which I don’t believe the partisan commentator’s statement was,” the former U.S. Attorney writes, adding: “Trump, moreover, did not suffer any material harm.”
The National Review writer continues, stating, “I don’t believe there would be a viable defamation case against Stephanopoulos even if Trump weren’t a public figure.” McCarthy concludes that, in his opinion, the “allegedly defamatory statement is not actionable” and was not made with “actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth.”
McCarthy does, at least, acknowledge that Stephanopoulos is “a partisan hack” who defended former President Bill Clinton against credible sexual assault allegations.