MSNBC host blasts ABC and Stephanopoulos $15m settlement with Trump

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

45% : But given the timing, he is on a roll and a roll, that is really unsettling in terms of public confidence in the criminal justice system and media confidence, and who is left after the media to tell the truth, that he will come after them, make their lives miserable, and it has been successful so far,' Litman added.
44% : MSNBC's Symone Sanders-Townsend has blasted ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the chief anchor and the broadcaster he works for agreed to settle a $15 million defamation lawsuit between the network and Donald Trump.
41% : She suggested that the settlement raises questions about its potential implications for journalistic freedom adding how the payout towards Trump has a 'chilling effect'Sanders-Townsend expressed concern that the settlement could set a troubling precedent for the media going forward.
34% : On the other side of the aisle, Republicans took their turn at blasting ABC News in what they believe to be as part of a reporting bias against Trump.
33% : It was not a criminal court'The comments at issue arose during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), in which Stephanopoulos discussed Carroll's civil lawsuit against Trump.
33% : During the interview, Stephanopoulos pressed Mace, saying: 'Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape.'ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over the claim in a March 10 segment on This Week made by Stephanopoulos, picturedIn response, Trump filed a lawsuit, asserting that such statements misrepresented the jury's findings and caused reputational harm.
33% : While the settlement spares Stephanopoulos and Trump from testifying in depositions.
29% : When George Stephanopoulos said Trump 'raped' E. Jean Carroll, he was using the word colloquially.
27% : Trump argued the statements were made with 'malice' and disregard for the legal distinction that the jury's verdict did not meet the state's specific definition of rape.
26% : Many Democrats saw the settlement as an example of ABC News kowtowing towards Trump'It might have a chilling effect or self-censoring effect on the media, as they cover the Trump administration.
24% : However, the jury did not conclude that Trump had committed rape as defined under New York law.
22% : In that case, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.
21% : Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting her,' USA Today opinion columnist Michael J. Stern wrote Bluesky.
18% : Republicans posting on X felt that more news organizations need to be brought to account on how they report on Donald Trump believing them to be biassed against himMace was raped when she was 16 years old and says it is what drives her to be an advocate for women's issues'You're trying to shame me for my political choice,' Mace told Stephanopoulos. '
18% : Stephanopoulos' phrasing - referring to Trump as being 'found liable for rape' -became the crux of the defamation suit.
17% : Of course, a vigorous free press is essential to any administration, even more so in one where Donald Trump has vowed to go after his enemy,' McQuade said.
10% : They are all falling to Donald Trump.
6% : The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed by Trump over comments Stephanopoulos made during a broadcast of This Week in March, in which he inaccurately stated how Trump had been found liable for the rape of writer E. Jean Carroll.

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