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ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit, as Fox News Digital first reported on Saturday.

According to the settlement, ABC agreed to contribute $15 million to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” 

The network will also pay $1 million for Trump’s attorney fees.

Additionally, Stephanopoulos and ABC News agreed to issue statements of “regret” as an editor’s note at the bottom of an online article on March 10, 2024, that included comments that prompted Trump to file a defamation lawsuit.

The lawsuit stems from an episode of ABC’s “This Week” during which Stephanopoulos asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case while interviewing Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., last 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 allegations E. Jean Carroll made against Trump.

Watch the exchange between Stephanopoulos and Mace below:

“Stephanopoulos repeated that claim ten times during his spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually determined Trump was liable for ‘sexual abuse,’ which has a distinct definition under New York law,” Fox News Digital detailed in its report.

Stephanopoulos, a former communications director for Bill Clinton, was initially defiant, telling CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert that he wouldn’t be “cowed out of doing my job because of a threat.”

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

This week, Stephanopoulos signed off on the following statement issued by ABC News:

“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.”

George Stephanopoulos of ABC. (ABC/Paula Lobo) 

The settlement and subsequent apology to Donald Trump further muck up the credibility of ABC News as an organization. In September, ABC ambushed Trump on stage during his first and only presidential debate against Kamala Harris, which co-moderator Linsey Davis later seemed to admit was the plan.

Specifically, Davis and David Muir fact-checked Trump five times regarding abortion, crime, and Haitian immigrants. They didn’t fact-check Harris even once – despite her many, many lies on stage. 

Further, the two moderators interrupted Trump a total of 11 times and Harris only once.

Not to mention, ABC News still presides over “The View,” the nastiest and most loose-with-the-facts program on television today. Since the election, “The View” has had to read aloud several legal disclaimers on air after co-host Sunny Hostin presented unproven and defamatory allegations against Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth as definitive facts.

Alas, ABC News’ quartet of Stephanopoulos, Hostin, Muir, and Donna Brazile gives even the roster of MSNBC a run for its money. Given the state of MSNBC, that’s hardly a positive development.

Consider Trump’s victory against ABC News and Stephanopoulos yet another nail in the coffin of the credibility of the legacy press.