Trump sues ABC News for defamation over rape claim

Donald Trump is suing ABC News and presenter George Stephanopoulos, claiming they defamed him by calling him a rapist during an interview.

Mr Stephanopoulos asked Representative Nancy Mace in an interview why she has endorsed Mr Trump, who was found liable of sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll, given her personal history.

Ms Mace, a staunch Trump supporter, has said she was raped by a classmate when she was 16 years old.

ABC has been contacted for comment.

The 10 March interview on ABC's This Week programme began with an archive clip of Ms Mace talking about dealing with her own experience of sexual assault.

"You endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?" Mr Stephanopoulos asked Ms Mace.

Last year, a New York jury found that Mr Trump sexually abused Ms Carroll in 1996, but did not find that the former president had raped her.

The judge in the case has stated that the claim Mr Trump raped Ms Carroll was "substantially true" and that "Mr Trump digitally raped her". Under New York law, rape can only be committed with genitals.

Mr Carroll was awarded $83.3m (£65m) for battery and defamation.

During the fractious interview with Ms Mace, Mr Stephanopoulos brought up Ms Carroll's rape allegations multiple times.

Ms Mace repeatedly said she was offended by the line of questioning.

"You're trying to shame me this morning, and I find it offensive, and it's why women won't come forward" to report rape, she said.

She also drew a distinction between sexual assault and rape and said that the allegations against Mr Trump weren't proven in a criminal court. And she alleged that Ms Carroll had joked about the settlement and made a "mockery" of rape.

The lawsuit was filed by Mr Trump in Florida on Monday. It claims that statements in the interview were "false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm."

Mr Trump, currently running for president, has a history of filing defamation suits against the news media, most of which have been unsuccessful.