Should George Stephanopoulos have to apologize to Trump?

After ABC News agreed to pay Donald Trump $15 million, some might think anchor George Stephanopoulos would be in hot water.

After all, it was his comments about the president that led to the settlement, as well as ABC News releasing an editor’s note expressing “regret” for the remarks made by Stephanopoulos about the former Apprentice host and convicted felon. But will Bill Clinton’s White House communications director apologize to Trump, and more importantly, should he even have to?

What did George Stephanopoulos say about Trump?

The remarks that landed Stephanopoulos in hot water came during an interview in March of 2024, when the host said Trump had been found “liable for rape.” The failed steak salesman and soon-to-be president, however, was found liable for “sexual abuse” rather than rape.

The case that led to Trump being labelled a sexual abuser was brought by E. Jean Carroll, who alleged the failed casino owner assaulted her in a dressing room at a department store in the mid-nineties. The jury concluded that what he did to Carroll didn’t fall within the “narrow, technical meaning of a particular section of the New York Penal Law,” with Judge Lews Kaplan adding that the legal definition of rape being used was much narrower than in other criminal statutes (as per the BBC). In the aftermath of the case, Trump was ordered to pay an additional $83.3 million to Carroll for defamatory statements he made about her during the trial.

Why did ABC have to apologize to Trump?

As Trump was found to be a sexual assaulter rather than a rapist, Stephanopoulos was technically not telling the truth during his interview with South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace when he grilled the Republican about her endorsement of the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York actor.

As per the settlement, ABC News will pay a charitable contribution of $15 million to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plantiff.” Trump has previously been fined millions for misusing his charity foundation, so let’s hope the cash is used for its intended purpose.

Should George Stephanopoulos have to apologize to Trump?

While ABC News has released something of an apology, stating that they “regret” what happened, Stephanopoulos has not been legally compelled to respond to Trump in any official capacity. There might be something going on behind the scenes between the political talking head and his network bosses, but for now, that is all speculation.

Whether apologizing is the “moral” thing to do is another question. Technically, Stephanopoulos spread a mistruth, or at the very least, a terminological distortion of the truth, one that wasn’t proven in a court of law. However, a jury did decide that Trump sexually assaulted someone, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement. The issue seems one of semantics rather than truthfulness.

There’s also the elephant in the room: Trump is known for lying like most people breathe, so the fact that he is able to garner an apology for something that is a misrepresentation rather an the outright falsehoods he constantly parrots is quite jarring. It also sets a chilling precedent: that criticizing the president in a way that is deemed to be technically incorrect will lead to a crushing fine, and potential further legal damage.