‘Ring Kissed’: Dem Lawyer Tears Into ‘Obedience’ of ABC News Settling Trump Defamation Suit With ‘Knee Bent’
High-profile Democratic attorney Marc Elias blasted ABC News on Saturday evening after the network settled a defamation lawsuit that was filed by President-elect Donald Trump.
Elias posted on social media he viewed the settlement as a sign that yet another media outlet was waving the white flag regarding Trump.
The network apologized to Trump over comments network anchor George Stephanopoulos made earlier this year during a Sunday morning interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). Stephanopoulos said numerous times Trump had been adjudicated of rape while referring to the E. Jean Carroll civil sexual abuse lawsuit – which she won.
Trump sued for defamation, arguing the anchor made “demonstrably false” remarks with “actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Saturday afternoon, ABC News issued the following apology to Trump and agreed to pay him $15 million to settle the 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.
A network spokesperson told Mediaite, “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
Numerous newspapers have taken flak in recent months and weeks over a perception they were bowing to Trump. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski also faced backlash when they traveled to Florida to meet Trump after he won the election last month.
Elias went nuclear on ABC in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) in which he categorized the ABC settlement as a “knee bent” to Trump.”
“Knee bent. Ring kissed. Another legacy news outlet chooses obedience,” Elias wrote.
In another post, Elias stated, “I bet Bezos, Zuckerberg and the rest are bummed that they will now need to match the $15m payment to Trump in order to keep up with Disney.”
In a final post on the matter, the attorney commented, “Does anyone have a list of legacy media that have not (yet) apologized to, praised and/or paid Trump since Election Day?”
Elias also announced his intention to leave X by the end of the month and to join Bluesky.
