In a twist that could only be described as the gods of irony doing their best stand-up routine, Donald Trump just turned ABC News into one of the largest corporate donors to his presidential library. Yes, the network that’s spent years hand-wringing over Trump’s presidency has now, thanks to a colossal defamation settlement, essentially agreed to underwrite the Official Museum of MAGA Studies. If irony were a currency, we’d all be billionaires.
Here’s how it went down: Back in March, ABC’s This Week host George Stephanopoulos—whose only journalistic credential seems to be the ability to maintain a straight face while spinning for Bill Clinton—bungled an interview with South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace so epically that it cost his network $15 million. (And no, George, you don’t get a Pulitzer for that.) Not only will ABC cut a check for the settlement, they’re also covering Trump’s legal fees. It’s almost poetic. Trump managed to pull off a financial coup so artful that I wouldn’t be surprised if he lists “Media Mogul” on his résumé now.
The dispute began during an exchange between Stephanopoulos and Mace. It was classic George: smug, condescending, and oozing with the faux sincerity of a used-car salesman telling you the transmission is “practically new.” When Mace resisted his efforts to use her personal history as a rape survivor to corner her into denouncing Trump over E. Jean Carroll’s allegations, Stephanopoulos couldn’t resist going full crusader. He ended his interrogation with a sanctimonious mic-drop: “Women won’t come forward because they are defamed by people who perpetrate rape.”
And just like that, ABC News’s legal department collectively fainted.
Stephanopoulos’s statement was not only inaccurate but blatantly defamatory. For those keeping score at home, a Manhattan jury had specifically not found Trump liable for rape. Instead, they determined—under the extremely loose “preponderance of evidence” standard used in civil trials—that Carroll hadn’t proven rape but some other indeterminate sexual misconduct. But legal nuance isn’t Stephanopoulos’s strong suit. Neither, apparently, is reading his own talking points before broadcasting them to millions.
If the goal was to give Trump’s legal team a slam-dunk case, mission accomplished. And if the goal was to get ABC’s lawyers to collectively yell, “For the love of God, George, shut up!”—well, they nailed that too.
Trump 1, ABC 0
Now, I’m no Trump cheerleader—he’s made enough unforced errors to fill an entire library of books (irony alert: that library now has seed funding courtesy of ABC)—but watching the media trip over itself this spectacularly is an Olympic-level spectator sport. ABC didn’t just lose; they practically handed Trump a golden megaphone with “I told you so” engraved on it.
Stephanopoulos won’t face any professional consequences for his blunder. He’ll keep sneering into the camera, unscathed, because in the media world, accountability is for everyone else. Meanwhile, ABC has to eat $15 million, plus attorney fees, plus the shame of knowing they’re now a literal sponsor of the Trump legacy.
What makes this even funnier is how ABC’s defenders are trying to spin the settlement. I saw one commentator claim it’s akin to Disney, ABC’s parent company, “avoiding legal costs.” Sure, because companies routinely fork over $15 million and legal fees for funsies. It’s not a settlement—it’s a surrender. ABC feared the discovery process, which could have revealed even more embarrassing dirt, and they decided the safest route was to make it rain MAGA bucks.
A Rare Win for Nancy Mace
Let’s give some credit to Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who held her own against Stephanopoulos’s browbeating. While she didn’t outright call him a liar on live TV—which would have been a glorious moment of instant karma—her performance was solid enough to set this whole debacle in motion. It wasn’t a publicity stunt; it was good old-fashioned poise, the kind that turns a forgettable interview into a headline-grabbing lawsuit.
And now Mace gets to bask in the glow of having triggered a $15 million payout from one of the nation’s most sanctimonious media outlets. Bravo, Congresswoman. You might have just earned yourself a spot in the Museum of MAGA Studies.
The Lesson: Don’t Let George Do the Talking
At the end of the day, this fiasco is a masterclass in hubris. Stephanopoulos, the former Clinton operative who once made a career out of deflecting scandals, has now helped bankroll Trump’s presidential library. That’s like finding out your diet soda funds the local candy factory.
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