Donald Trump Donald Trump has sued ABC News after its host made rape claims against the former president during an interview. Trump filed the defamation lawsuit against the media company and its host, George Stephanopoulos, on Monday in Florida. 

Donald Trump Sued ABC News, George Stephanopoulos Over Rape Claims

According to BBC, the issue between Donald Trump and ABC News started when George Stephanopoulos interviewed congresswoman Nancy Mace. Stephanopoulos asked the lawmaker why she backed the former president despite him being found "liable for rape."

Last year, a New York civil court found Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996, but the jury did not find the former president had raped the writer.

The judge in the case later stated that the claim that Trump had raped Carroll was "substantially true" but with his fingers rather than with his penis. Rape, under New York state law, can only be committed with genitals.

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Donald Trump Says Rape Claim Harms His Reputation

In his lawsuit, Donald Trump said that George Stephanopoulos had harmed his reputation by saying multiple times on-air that he had been found liable for raping E. Jean Carroll.

The presumptive Republican presidential candidate argued that these statements in the interview were "false, intentional, malicious, and designed to cause harm." Trump has a history of filing defamation lawsuits against media outlets, but many were unsuccessful.

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