MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend says ABC News’ $16 million settlement with Donald Trump “feels like it has a real chilling effect.”
The President-elect sued ABC News host George Stephanopoulos and ABC News for repeatedly saying Trump was liable for r*ping author E. Jean Carroll. The allegation was never proven in court, but the jury believed Carroll.
The judge later said Carroll didn’t “fail to prove r*pe as defined by Dictionary.com,” the New York Post wrote.
Sanders-Townsend, host of Sunday’s “The Weekend” talk show, said the settlement will have the effect of silencing all left-leaning media outlets.
“Shout out to the [MSNBC] Standards Department,” she said. “Standards is always making sure that we are keeping the bar high, and substantive and accurate.”
Sanders-Townsend, a former spokesperson for the Biden White House, said Stephanopoulos accusing Trump of being liable for rape “seems to hold up [with] what the judge said after the fact…”
She noted that Stephanopoulos is paying $1 million of his own money to Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito while ABC News is paying $15 million.
“It’s insane,” she said.
Should Trump sue MSNBC too?pic.twitter.com/7XyYw35aht
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 15, 2024
ABC News agreed to pay $15 million cash 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 New York Post disagreed with Sanders-Townsend’s warning to tread lightly around Trump’s incoming administration.
“That’s nonsense: Corporations like ABC and its parent company, Disney, don’t make such payouts unless they think they’re avoiding far worse if the case actually moves ahead,” The New York Post wrote.
The New York Post added: “Trump let ABC off easy in settling for just $16 million over George Stephanopoulos’ blatant defamation.”
