MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2024
Fox & Friends straightens things out: It's been strange to see people on the Fox News Channel discussing the settlement reached by ABC News in the defamation lawsuit brought by Donald J. Trump.
It's been strange to see such people saying that Trump wasn't found liable for committing an act of "rape"—that he was only found liable for committing an act of "sexual abuse."
It does seem to strange to see Fox personnel say that, but we've seen it said at least twice. To see the initial report of this matter on Sunday morning's Fox & Friends Weekend, along with the ensuing discussion, you can start by clicking here.
News reader Chanley Painter articulates the distinction during her initial report. The discussion continues for several minutes. Eventually, co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy somewhat oddly says this, with Kevin Corke chiming in:
CAMPOS-DUFFY (12/15/24): Well, that' an interesting turn of events. I mean, this has been a good week for Donald Trump. A lot of vindication.
CORKE: I'll say!
CAMPOS-DUFFY: A lot of the narratives by the media, by people we're supposed to be able to trust, and Donald Trump coming out on top again.
According to Campos-Duffy, Trump had come out on top again! He was only found liable for an act of sexual abuse!
Before long, the smartest of the friends jumped in, with Will Cain saying this:
CAIN: Stephanopoulos repeated the false thing over and over, like obstinately, like trying to make a jab, over and over—repeated a false thing about Donald Trump over and over and over.
Cain is perfectly bright. According to his account, someone in this age of Trump had repeated a false thing over and over and over again! It's no wonder that the trio of friends seemed to be so surprised!
So much for the weekend friends. Let's move ahead to a pair of larger questions:
Should ABC News have agreed to settle? But also, should Stephanopoulos have said what he said?
Many people have said that Trump's lawsuit would likely have been a loser had ABC News declined to settle. It seems to us that certainly could be true. There's also no way to know that.
With respect to Stephanopoulos himself, should he have said what he did in fact repeatedly say when he interviewed Rep. Nancy Mace way back in March of this year?
He did in fact say what he said again and again and again, something like ten to twelve times in all. Also, he presumably knew that what he saying may not have been 100 percent "technically accurate" in a thoroughly perfect way.
He could have clarified his statement at some point, making his meaning clear. But he never chose to do that. To us, as we read the transcript of the interview, his repetitive presentation feels a bit like a sign of our (highly partisan) times.
Also, was he possibly being a bit insensitive with respect to the fact, which he cited again and again, that Mace has testified to having been raped when she was 16? Here's the way the interview started:
STEPHANOPOULOS (3/10/24): Our next guest is South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Donald Trump supporter who gave candid and courageous testimony about her own experience as a rape victim weeks before launching her run for Congress in 2019.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MACE: From some of us who've been raped, it can take 25 years to get up the courage and talk about being a victim of rape. And the first thing that happens when a woman comes out in public and says she's been raped, what is the first thing out of someone's mouth? Is that it didn't happen. This is why women do not come forward. They are afraid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)STEPHANOPOULOS: Congresswoman, thanks for joining us this morning.
You endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges in two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming a victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?
MACE: Well, I will tell you, I was raped at the age of 16, and any rape victim will tell you, I’ve lived for 30 years with an incredible amount of shame over being raped. I didn't come forward because of that judgment and shame that I felt.
And it's a shame that you will never feel, George, and I’m not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim. I’m not going to do that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It's actually not about shaming you. It’s a question about Donald Trump.
MACE: No, you are shaming me.
And so it went, on and on and on and on, all through a long, contentious, highly repetitive attempt at an interview.
Meanwhile, for the record:
In recent years, Rep. Mace has turned into one of the most disingenuous attention-seekers in the entire Congress. During this long, repetitive interview, she just kept repeating the claim that Stephanopoulos was trying to shame her by asking her that question.
Was she trying to avoid his question by making that aggressive claim? Is it possible that Stephanopoulos was wandering across a line by framing the interview session that way?
Eventually, Mace finally drew the distinction between the two legal terms involved in this matter. ("It was sexual abuse. It wasn’t actually rape, by the way.") But go ahead—just try to fight your way through that long, amazingly repetitive interview session.
All in all, it reads to us like a marker of a very ugly age—an age which features angry armies, Red and Blue, angrily looking for fights.
ABC News certainly might have won in court—or then again, maybe not. In our view, Stephanopoulos should have drawn the distinction in question at some point during the session.
Meanwhile, Mace has turned into one of the most disingenuous people currently serving in Congress. Luckily, we had a trio of friends on Sunday morning who were able to sort this whole thing out.
Trump has come out on top again! He has only been found liable for an act of sexual abuse!
ReplyDelete"According to Campos-Duffy, Trump had come out on top again! He was only found liable for an act of sexual abuse!"
Yes, apparently it was indeed only, since "sexual abuse" didn't satisfy your scumbag elites (represented by scumbag Stephanopoulos), and your retarded rank and file comrades.
Are you gonna cry about it with Assad?
DeleteTo paraphrase the late, great Mose Allison:
DeleteVash razum v otpuske, no vy pechatayete sverkhurochno.
Trump's jokes about securing the border, were almost as funny as his ones about bringing down inflation.
ReplyDeleteStill, his sense of humor went right over the pointy-heads of some voters.
ABC did accurately report that Trump was "liable", not "guilty". "Guilty" would have required "beyond a reasonable doubt". Only a preponderance of the evidence was needed for "liable." That actually means "He said -- She said". The public isn't impressed with that kind of unknown event.
ReplyDeleteYou being "the public," of course.
DeleteJesus your brain is shot full of the felon's lying media lies. But first where is your apology Dick in Cal?
Delete"The AP reports:
A former FBI informant pleaded guilty on Monday to lying about a phony bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter that became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress."
Years of this complete BS with the lying POS Comer digging for dirt he knows does not exist, with your fucking media constantly misinforming you of about the Biden fucking crime family. You are a dolt who never stops feeding on nonsense.
Give David in Cal a break. Biden was treating black people as equals to him.
Delete
DeleteStill, taking half of Hunter's loot is way, way too much.
Hunter's dick deserves a higher share of Family Business. Mm-mmm.
I am Corby.
Trump's press conference today was reassuring. It was long, an hour and ten minutes. Reasonable questions. Calm, reasonable, knowledgeable answers. I hope Trump-haters will watch it.
ReplyDeleteTrump signaled that he is preparing to attack the "work from home" movement on behalf of global capital, that he will not talk about desertification as a cause for the refugee numbers, and along with Fox will piss away valuable precious time we have to stop climate catastrophe on puffing up sensationalized race bait.
DeleteOff Topic David - I watched it. Somehow, for some reason, Trump lacks credibility. It did seem as though his handlers finally got his Ritalin dose right.
DeleteLike they say, beauty - or in this case, grotesquerie - is in the eye of the beholder.
Here's some of what DIC thinks is reassuring:
Deletehttps://youtu.be/syNRcTqZY8I?si=tZgsKmfkbpTvF2Zp
Mike I -- In the first item in your link, Trump says he will use the threat of tariffs to get Canada and Mexico to cooperate on stopping illegal immigration into the US. And, he said it's already working. What's wrong with that?
DeleteWell, if he said it's already working, who are we to doubt the lying sack of shit, eh Dickhead in Cal.
DeleteDid you notice he also threatened multiple news organizations including Bob Woodward, you fucking fascist Dick? Did you click your heels and salute like a good little nazi?
Did anybody actually read this whole post?
ReplyDeleteBecause Somerby knocked Mace? Somerby routinely disparages women here, regardless of their political affiliation. He doesn’t like or respect women and uses any opportunity to criticize women. He no doubt thinks he “supported” Harris because he was less disparaging toward her than Mace.
DeleteI sympathize with Mace trying to see the next threat around the corner after being overpowered, now she wants power on her side. This is human nature. She's in survival mode.
ReplyDeleteBeing afraid conditions you into black and white thinking, and the way through this is saying, I believe your story, I hear your concern for safety, and now let's talk. Cable media doesn't do this. They need fearful people to buy things. They need gotchas with clicks. They need blood in the water. And so does the Trump economy.
“In July 2023, Judge Kaplan said that the verdict found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word, i.e. not necessarily implying penile penetration.[d][e] In August 2023, Kaplan dismissed a countersuit and wrote that Carroll's accusation of rape is "substantially true".”
ReplyDeleteShould journalists like George Stephanopoulos prioritize technical accuracy over rhetorical impact when discussing sensitive legal distinctions, especially in highly partisan interviews? Incredibox Colorbox Mustard
ReplyDeleteRape is rape, no matter what foreign object is used without consent.
DeleteRegardless of what the judge said, the jury did not find Trump liable for rape.
DeleteDimintheHead - google "the law of the case." Then look in the mirror and start laughing.
Deletethomasfrank - maybe add a couple more bags of cement to that loaded question.
DeleteRegardless of what the judge said, the jury did not find Trump liable for rape.
DeleteThat is because she honestly testified she couldn't be sure if it was his fingers or his tiny dick that penetrated her. There was no doubt it was one or the other.
We don't know how strong or weak Trump's claim would have been, because we don't know what would have been divulged in discovery. It may be significant that ABC capitulated right after the judge ruled that they would have to go through that process.
ReplyDeleteIf the goal is to assess Trump's lawsuit, arguments should focus on the evidence and case details rather than relying on what unspecified individuals said.
ReplyDeleteTrump also raped his wife and then after she died he dumped her body in a neglected part of one of his golf courses to get a tax benefit.
ReplyDeleteTrump also raped a 13yo girl.
In America, there’s rape every 6 minutes.
Somerby and his ghoulish right wing fanboys don’t give a fuck about rape, it’s all bait to own the libs; these are wounded people with lost souls.
Somerby’s racism denialism goes hand in hand with his rape denialism.
ReplyDeleteThese are the same sad tormented souls that consider pissing away $450 million on cheesy ventures that all went bankrupt is a resounding success.
The way their brains have been re-wired by unresolved trauma, they have no access to a moral compass.
And we all know the pineal gland is our “third eye” and the seat of the soul.
Delete