‘Very Chilling’: Fmr Obama Advisor Worries Disney ‘Bowing Down’ To Trump ‘Signals’ Others Won’t Fight Back

Former Obama advisor Tommy Vietor discussed Tuesday on his podcast how he believes Disney “bowing down” to President-elect Donald Trump could “signal” to other outlets and corporations that they won’t fight back against him, following their settlement with the former president over the weekend.

Court filings released Saturday revealed that ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and the network had agreed to settle Trump’s defamation lawsuit against them, confirming they will pay $15 million to the former president by Dec. 24, which will be considered a “charitable contribution” to Trump’s “residential foundation and museum.” On “Pod Save America,” co-host Jon Lovett defended Stephanopoulos, citing a March segment of his show, “This Week,” in which he claimed Trump was found “liable for rape” while berating Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace over her support of the former president.

“Well, even that, I think, is being so generous towards Trump interpretation of what Stephanopoulos said,” Lovett said. “Because, yes, it is true technically that it was for sexual abuse and not rape. Even the judge in the case made a point of saying this is a narrow legal definition. By the common use of the word rape, it could apply in this case.”

“So there’s an argument to be made that this isn’t what Stephanopoulos said, wasn’t even incorrect. His interpretation of the conclusion of the court is that it was liable for this, even if the technical legal wording might be different. So, like, it is all eminently defensible,” Lovett said.

Vietor then joined in, stating that he believed it wouldn’t have been a hard case for Disney to win, noting that CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook have appeared to appeal to Trump since his win in November.

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