this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
555 points (97.6% liked)
Political Memes
5598 readers
1631 users here now
Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
Be civil
Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
No misinformation
Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.
Posts should be memes
Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.
No bots, spam or self-promotion
Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It ain't and that's the crux of the lawsuit. Stephanopolous said trump had been liable for rape when in reality he'd been found liable for sexual assault. Rape is a different charge.
It's a subtle difference but it is one a veteran journalist would be expected to know, which is why the bar of him acting "with a reckless disregard for the truth" wouldn't be unthinkable.
Morally, yeah, I'm with you. But legally, ABC was on dicey ground. Maybe could win but damn, that'd be a battle. Stephanopolous would have to, in court, claim he didn't understand the difference between the charges which isn't a great look for an anchor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/
Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll
Archive
Exactly, the key bit being "Ms Carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of the New York Penal Law'
In other words, even though he wasn't found liable for rape, she was raped as the word is commonly understood. Unfortunately, Stephanopolous made the claim (repeatedly I believe) that trump had been found liable for rape.
I thought the judge specifically said it was rape, despite the wording of the crime. that's like saying they used the word "stole" when the public record says "embezzlement". hardly an argument.
a difference between rape and sexual assult is an argument designed into the system. not because theres an actual difference in the crime. because theres a difference between who each charge will be applied to. just like theft vs embezzlement.