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Judge Cecilia Altonaga of United States District Court in Miami has rejected
ABC’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against the Disney-owned network and its anchor George Stephanopolous by former President Trump, allowing it to move forward. 

The lawsuit stems from comments Stephanopoulos made in March when he falsely asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case. 

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

The former president trumpeted the ruling on Truth Social, writing, “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!”

ABC News declined to comment. 

Stephanopoulos’ comments were made during a tense exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on his Sunday program “This Week” in March.

After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?” 

“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll. 

The ABC News anchor remained defiant about the lawsuit during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in May.

“Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen,” Stephanopoulos said. “We filed a motion to dismiss.

“After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a later ruling that just because Carroll failed to prove rape “within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.