Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) just dove headfirst into a legal and political firestorm after referring to President Trump as a “r*pist” in a reckless and inflammatory social media post. And now, legal experts and Trump allies are calling on the 45th President to sue her into next week.
“Wow who would have thought that electing a r*pist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?” AOC wrote on X over the weekend — a statement that even the most left-leaning lawyers would have a hard time defending.
The problem? Trump has never been convicted — or even indicted — for r*pe. The 2023 civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, not r*pe. Trump has denied ever meeting Carroll and says her allegations are complete fiction, meant to sell books and smear his name.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos found himself in hot water earlier this year for making similar false claims in an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). That blunder cost ABC a reported $15 million in a legal settlement with Trump, who took swift action after Stephanopoulos repeated the “r*pe” claim 10 times on-air. ABC and Stephanopoulos later issued a statement expressing “regret.”
Now AOC is in the same boat — and she may not have a major network budget to bail her out. Trump supporters are urging him to sue her for defamation, arguing that she crossed a legal line by spreading demonstrably false information outside of the protected walls of Congress.
“This is defamatory. And I hope you are sued by Trump for this the same way George Stephanopoulos was,” posted Trump ally Laura Loomer. Legal analyst Phil Holloway added, “The President should sue AOC into bankruptcy.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) even pointed out that AOC may have exposed herself to liability even under the speech-protective standards of New York Times v. Sullivan. And Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) didn’t mince words either, blasting Democrats for sitting on the Epstein Files for years while now pretending to care.
Meanwhile, the White House took its own shot at AOC’s carefully crafted image, highlighting that her rags-to-riches campaign narrative might be more fiction than fact.
“AOC likes to play pretend like she’s from the block,” said White House communications director Steven Cheung. “But in reality she’s just a sad, miserable blockhead.”
With lawsuits on the table and even liberal legal minds cringing at her post, AOC might finally learn that defamation isn’t protected by clout — and her mouth may have written a check her budget can’t cash.