ABC’s ‘The View’ ignores Stephanopoulos settlement with Trump

ABC’s “The View” ignored the media and news anchor George Stephanopoulos’ settlement with President-elect Donald Trump for repeatedly saying the president-elect was “found responsible for rape.”

The ABC talk show discussed the New Jersey drone story, as well as Senator Mitt Romney’s interview on CNN on Sunday, in which he said, “give him a chance to do what he said he was going to do and see how it works.”

The settlement was publicly filed on Saturday, revealing that the two parties have reached an agreement and avoided an expensive lawsuit. According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a “presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for plaintiff as established by presidents of the United States in the past.” In addition, the network will pay $1 million in Trump’s legal fees.

The co-hosts of “The View” have been outspoken about the legal cases against Trump throughout the election cycle. They often refer to him as a convicted felon.

The co-hosts of “The View” ignored ABC’s settlement with Donald Trump over the weekend. (Screenshot/ABC)

ABC NEWS’ GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS HAS INCORRECTLY FOUND TRUMP ‘RESPONSIBLE FOR RAPE’ 10 TIMES, LEGAL GURUS SAY

Fox News Digital has reached out to ABC for comment.

Stephanopoulos and ABC News also had to issue statements of “regret” as an editorial note at the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online articleabout comments earlier this year that prompted Trump to file a libel suit.

“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024,” the memo said.

Stephanopoulos reiterated that Trump was found “liable for rape” ten times during his spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually found Trump liable for “sexual assault,” which has a separate definition under New York law.

The settlement has been criticized by members of the media.

“I worry about the effect it might have on others and the chilling effect it might have on people who would otherwise be critical of Donald Trump,” MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade said during a discussion of the defamation settlement on Saturday .

ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos, media business settles with Donald Trump after he sues for defamation. (Getty Images)

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Marc E. Elias, a Democratic election lawyer, accused ABC News of bending the knee and kissing the ring by settling.

“The knee bent. The ring kiss. Another medium of inheritance chooses obedience,” he wrote on X.

“It occurred to me that the ABC boardroom was involved in this decision in some way,” LA Times legal columnist Harry Litman said during the MSNBC appearance Saturday. “And my big concern, to put a finer point on what Barb is saying, is that it’s somehow caught in the fact that he’s going to be president soon.”

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Some of the co-hosts of “The View” have been critical of their fellow outspoken Trump critics, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, for their meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago after the election.

Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin took issue with the meeting, accusing them of kissing Trump’s ring at his Palm Beach home.

Fox News’ Gabriel Hays and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.