Gov. JB Pritzker has said repeatedly that Donald Trump is an “adjudicated rapist.” That’s false, and those statements are not meaningfully different than the basis of a defamation claim made by Trump, which has now been settled in his favor.
ABC News and its program host, George Stephanopoulos, on Saturday settled a defamation suit brought by Donald Trump. Under the terms of the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Trump and pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees. Additionally, ABC and Stephanopoulos issued statements of “regret” about comments made earlier this year that prompted Trump to file the defamation lawsuit.
The statements by Stephanopoulos that were the subject of the defamation action are substantially identical to a claim repeatedly made by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Specifically, Stephanopoulos said several times during an interview broadcast in March that Trump was found “liable for rape.” That was in reference to a civil case brought by E. Jean Carrol over an assault by Trump she alleged occurred in 1995 or 1996. However, the court in that 2023 case found Trump liable for sexual abuse, not rape. The jury expressly rejected a rape allegation, as shown in its written findings here.
Pritzker on many occasions has called Trump an “adjudicated rapist” in various public statements and interviews. In a news conference in July, for example, he said, “It’s still true that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, has been a congenital liar and is unfit for the office of president of the United States.” And in June, on X (Twitter), he wrote, “Donald Trump is a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, and a congenital liar. He’s a racist, sexist, misogynistic narcissist who wants to use the levers of power to enrich himself and punish anyone who dares speak a word against him.” Multiple other examples can be found easily.
By settling the lawsuit against them, ABC and Stephanopoulos apparently concluded they faced substantial risk that a court would agree with Trump that it was defamatory to say Trump was found liable for rape. Should he choose to make one, Trump certainly appears to have a viable defamation claim against Pritzker for saying Trump is an adjudicated rapist.
