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Judge won’t dismiss Trump’s lawsuit against ABC’s ‘Liddle George Slopadopolus’

July 25, 2024 | | Print Article

A federal judge rejected an effort by ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos to have a defamation lawsuit tossed, a big win for GOP nominee Donald J. Trump.

On Wednesday, Judge Cecilia Altonaga of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami declined to dismiss the suit that was filed in March by the former president after the Clinton lickspittle lied about him on-air.

The suit concerns a contentious interview on ABC’s “This Week” with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in which the anchor not only rape-shamed her but also told a national television audience that Trump had been found liable of raping columnist E. Jean Carroll, a blatant lie.

While Stephanopoulos and his employer may have been counting on the wide latitude typically afforded media organizations when it comes to defaming public figures, the lie was so egregious that she ruled in Trump’s favor, allowing the case to proceed to trial.

“A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context,” the judge wrote. “But a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate.”

Trump reacted to the latest in a series of recent legal wins by gloating and mocking “Slopadopolus” in a Wednesday post to his Truth Social platform.

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“A BIG WIN TODAY IN HIGH FLORIDA COURT AGAINST ABC FAKE NEWS, AND LIDDLE’ GEORGE SLOPADOPOLUS. A POWERFUL CASE! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE FORCED BY THE COURTS TO START TELLING THE TRUTH. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA2024!” Trump wrote.

“Here, of course, New York has opted to separate out a crime of rape; and Stephanopoulos’s statements dealt not with the public’s usage of that term, but the jury’s consideration of it during a formal legal proceeding,” said Altonaga, a George H.W. Bush appointee in the 21-page ruling.

Not even a toxically biased New York City found Trump liable for an alleged rape of the notoriously litigious Carroll that he has repeatedly denied. But that hasn’t stopped Democrats, their media stooges, and Mitt Romney from lying about it, and it may be that the bill is coming due for “Slopadopolus” and his network.

Trump is no fan of ABC’s star anchor and former Clinton administration official. He tore into him before his much-hyped interview with President Joe Biden who tucked his tail and ran from Nancy Pelosi’s band of mutineers, dropping his reelection bid on Sunday.

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“The meanest and most vicious Interviewer out there is George Slopadopoulos of FAKE NEWS ABC, one of the worst and most vile Broadcasters in the business…,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month. “Now ABC, and Liddle’ George, a tiny, angry man, can make up for their past indiscretions and journalistic failures by doing a real interview with Crooked Joe, not a cut up promotion with only his few coherent answers released to the public.”

Chris Donaldson
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