Politics
Calls Grow For Trump To Sue AOC After Vulgar Attack: ‘Way Too Far’
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has always tiptoed close to the line when it comes to allegations of defamation against President Trump, but this time she might have finally crossed it.
Critics of AOC are calling on President Donald Trump to sue the “Squad” Democrat after she called him a “rapist” in a blustery social media post over the weekend in reference to a civil judgment in the case brought by E. Jean Carroll.
“Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?” Ocasio-Cortez posted to X on Friday.
The 2023 case ended with a jury finding Trump civilly liable for sexual assault, not rape. Trump has denied ever knowing Carroll and accused her of making false allegations about them meeting in a department store dressing room in the 1990s in order to sell books.
Trump successfully pressured ABC News into a $15 million settlement after anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly suggested Trump was found guilty of rape in the Carroll case.
The comment by AOC came after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that there is no “client list” in the Epstein investigation and that no one else would be charged as a result.
Legal observers suggested Trump could sue the Democrat “into bankruptcy” for her post.
“The President should sue AOC into bankruptcy. I realize she’s trying to raise her profile but this is way way too far,” legal analyst Phil Holloway posted to X on Saturday.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) added: “Even under the ridiculously lenient standards of NY Times v. Sullivan, you’ve managed to incur defamation liability Wow.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) responded as well, writing, “Why didn’t you guys release the Epstein files over the last 4 years? Maybe you were too busy covering for Joe Biden… or, could it have something to do with another former Democrat President?”
“Well we have grounds for a huge defamation suit here you idiot because Donald Trump has never been indicted for rape much less convicted,” reacted Your Voice America host Bill Mitchell.
“You realize your X account doesn’t carry the same protections to defame people that you enjoy during congressional proceedings?” another X account posted, Fox News reported.
“Donald Trump has not been criminally convicted of being a rapist. This is defamatory. And I hope you are sued by Trump for this the same way George Stephanopoulos was sued and forced to pay Trump $15 million dollars. I hope you have millions ready for Trump, Porky. @AOC,” Trump ally Laura Loomer responded, tagging the Bronx congresswoman.
“This is gonna be fun. AOC is so dumb she just called Trump a rapist – after ABC was forced to fork over $16 million in a settlement with Trump after George Stephanopoulos called him a rapist,” Townhall contributor Rachel Alexander posted to X.
AOC’s comment is eerily similar to the defamatory one by Stephanopoulos during a March 2024 interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-NC), where he asked how she could support Trump given her past experience with sexual assault.
“How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?” he asked Mace after playing a clip of her talking about being abused. “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,” an allusion to the Carroll case.
Stephanopoulos repeated the rape claim 10 times during the interview. As part of the settlement, ABC News and Stephanopoulos released a statement expressing “regret” for the choice of words.
“Editor’s Note: 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,” an editor’s note accompanying the online story states.
The White House took a shot at AOC over new allegations that she grew up in a tony suburb north of her district, a far cry from the hardscrabble upbringing she spun while first running for Congress in 2018.
“AOC likes to play pretend like she’s from the block, but in reality she’s just a sad, miserable blockhead who is trying to over-compensate for her lack of self-confidence that has followed her for her entire life,” White House communication director Steven Cheung said in a statement.