Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was ripped on social media after she called President Trump “a rapist” online — with many suggesting a tweet from the Congresswoman was grounds for a defamation lawsuit from the commander in chief.
Ocasio-Cortez sparked outrage when she tweeted Friday about Trump and the release of files related to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X, apparently referring to Trump and the 2023 civil trial where he was found liable of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.
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Trump, however, was not found liable of rape in the case — a distinction the congresswoman failed to make — leading many on social media to encourage the president to sue the self-described “Bronx girl.”
“Even under the ridiculously lenient standards of NY Times v. Sullivan, you’ve managed to incur defamation liability. Wow,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X, referring to the landmark 1964 Supreme Court libel case.
“George Stephanopoulos might advise you to take down this tweet,” another person tweeted.
Stephanopoulos and ABC were sued by Trump last year after the “This Week” host similarly asserted that Trump had been “found liable for rape,” during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
In December, ABC and Stephanopoulos agreed to pay Trump’s presidential library foundation $15 million and an additional $1 million in legal expenses as part of a settlement, and the network publicly apologized for the error.
“This is defamatory,” Trump ally Laura Loomer said of Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet. “And I hope you are sued by Trump for this the same way George Stephanopoulos was sued and forced to pay Trump $15 million dollars.”
“The President should sue AOC into bankruptcy,” legal analyst Phil Holloway similarly argued.
“I realize she’s trying to raise her profile but this is way way too far,” Holloway tweeted.
The White House declined to say if the president was considering legal action.
“AOC likes to play pretend like she’s from the block, but in reality she’s just a sad, miserable blockhead who is trying to over-compensate for her lack of self-confidence that has followed her for her entire life,” White House communication director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
