New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be facing potential legal trouble after a social media post that some argue could amount to defamation.
In the post, Ocasio-Cortez referred to President Donald Trump as a “rapist,” implying that the president was the reason behind the administration’s decision not to release the Epstein files.
“Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files,” the New York Democrat wrote on X.
AOC was likely referring to Trump’s case with former Elle Magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won a settlement against him after a federal jury found him liable for sexual assault against her in the 1990s. The same jury, however, did not find Trump guilty of rape.
Users on the platform immediately pointed that out and mentioned the potential legal consequences of making such a false claim.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee noted the problematic nature of this.
“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.
New York Times v. Sullivan is a landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision that is intended to serve as a guidepost for libel lawsuits. It sets an extraordinarily high standard: not only must the material be false or defamatory, but it must also be made with “actual malice” – either by presenting false information owing to a proven animus toward the target or with reckless disregard for the truth.
Others made similar comments.
“Very weird that none of those allegations came out until he was running for president. Also, I’m pretty sure this is libel and an easily winnable case at that,” one user wrote.
“Given that other more high-profile commentators than you have called him that, and then been successfully sued, I think you’re in some difficulty here,” another added.
“Donald Trump has not been criminally convicted of rape. As a congress woman, with such broad reach, you should be aware of this and act and speak appropriately. This is defamation,” wrote another X user.
“George Stephanopoulos might advise you to take down this tweet,” another person posted.
Trump filed a lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC last year after the This Week host claimed during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) that Trump had been “found liable for rape.”