AOC informed followers in a Sunday night social media post that she would be absent from the inauguration because she does not “celebrate rapists,” falsely insinuating that Trump was guilty of the see.xual crime. “All these journalists are like ‘Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Are you going to the inauguration?’ Let me make myself clear: I don’t celebrate ra.apists. So no, I’m not going to the inauguration room,” she said.
However, it is important to note that President-elect Trump has never been found guilty of rape and AOC is likely referring to the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit that accused him of see.xual assault. In 2023, the president was found liable for see.xual abuse and defamation against Carroll over incidents dating back to the 1990s, but was not found guilty of ra.pe.
Judge Lewis Kaplan explained the ruling in a court filing in response to a request from the incoming president to hold a new trial. “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raa.ped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’” Kaplan stated.
Following AOC’s incorrect insinuation about Trump, some on social media have called for President-elect Trump to sue the progressive congresswoman. The famous conservative X account Libs of TikTok shared the clip of Ocasio-Cortez writing, “AOC calls Trump a r*pist. Another person Trump should sue.” The account wrote in another post, “Hi @realDonaldTrump, remember ABC settled for $15 million after you sued them for calling you a r*pist? Time to sue AOC.”
The account Stop Socialist Tyranny commented, “Free speech is one thing, but defamation is another, AOC needs to be held accountable for her words. Trump has every right to sue for such a serious allegation, it’s about time someone teaches these libs about consequences. Elon Musk’s http://x.com/ is doing great work in exposing the left’s hypocrisy, keep sharing the truth.”
Earlier this year, The American Tribune reported on the settlement reached in a defamation lawsuit Trump brought against ABC New and anchor George Stephanopoulos over claims made on air that Trump had “raped” E. Jean Carroll. ABC News and Stephanopoulos came to an agreement with the incoming president to avoid a costly legal battle, where the network agreed to pay $15 million to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.”
