MS NOW anchor Alex Witt had to correct a liberal lawmaker for calling President Donald Trump an “adjudicated rapist” on her show on Saturday afternoon.

Witt asked Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) for her thoughts on the Justice Department launching an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, with the probe focused on whether she committed perjury during a 2022 deposition. Carroll accused the president of raping her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s, a claim Trump has repeatedly denied.

The anchor noted the probe is focused on whether Carroll lied when she said no one else was funding her case against Trump; LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman later admitted he was bankrolling the lawsuit. Carroll was awarded roughly $90 million between both her civil sexual abuse and defamation cases against Trump.

Stansbury said the probe into Carroll just shows Trump is manipulating the DOJ to go after his enemies.

“I mean, come on, Donald Trump. We all know that you are an adjudicated rapist, and now you’re going after survivors that have held you accountable,” Stansbury said. “All of this is an attempt to try to silence people and to try to intimidate them by using the United States Justice Department as a weapon against the American people.”

She added, “that is exactly what Richard Nixon went down for. So we can see what’s happening here.”

Witt then jumped in to correct the Democrat.

“Yeah, I just want to be careful, because President Trump was not accused of rape, per se. He was accused of sexual abuse. So going by the proper terminology there,” Witt said. “But nonetheless, I always appreciate having you on, Congresswoman Stanbury.”

Her correction stands out, not only because it was factual, but because ABC News notably paid Trump $15 million in late 2024 after anchor George Stephanopoulos said the president was found “liable for rape.” In fact, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in civil court, which carries a different definition in New York.

Watch above via MS NOW.

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