Trump’s Lawsuit Against ABC and Stephanopoulos Can Move Forward

A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday allowed former President Donald J. Trump’s defamation suit against ABC News to move forward, rejecting an effort by the television network to dismiss the litigation as spurious.

The lawsuit, filed in March, argued that ABC’s star anchor, George Stephanopoulos, defamed Mr. Trump by saying on-air numerous times, in a March 10 segment on “This Week,” that the former president had been found liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Mr. Trump was found liable last year in a Manhattan civil case for sexually abusing and defaming Ms. Carroll. The jury did not find Mr. Trump liable on a technical charge of rape, which is narrowly defined in New York State law. But the judge in the case later asserted that Mr. Trump had been held liable for rape “as many people commonly understand the word.”

There is typically a high bar in court to prove that a journalist defamed a public figure. But the Florida judge, Cecilia Altonaga of United States District Court in Miami, denied ABC’s initial attempt to have the case thrown out. “A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context,” she wrote. “But a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate.”

ABC News declined to comment on Wednesday. Mr. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, gloated about the ruling, calling it “A BIG WIN” against “ABC FAKE NEWS.” He also referred to Mr. Stephanopoulos by a mocking nickname and called him “LIDDLE.”

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., a lawyer who regularly represents media outlets in defamation cases, said he was concerned by the judge’s ruling. “This is a very troubling, and incorrect, application of defamation law that clashes with basic First Amendment