Jonathan Karl aims for George Stephanopoulos spot on ‘This Week’ after Trump trial drama: sources

David Muir, who? It looks like George Stephanopoulos has a new rival to watch out for at ABC.

Stephanopoulos’ political drama with President-elect Donald Trump has followed him into the new year, and sources tell us his colleague — and co-host of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” — Jonathan Karl, “wants George leave,” so he can sweep up. and take over the Sunday morning news show.

“He wants the show, and he sees (ABC’s Trump settlement) as an opportunity,” a source told us of Karl’s ambition to move in in Stephanopoulos’ place.

Although Stephanopoulos’ name is on the show, he shares hosting duties with Karl and Martha Raddatz.

“In Jon’s mind, he wants George gone, so it’s just him and Martha,” the source added.

Another source joked: “Martha? Jon wants the show for himself! The bench has been ready to go for years. (The attitude has been) when is (Stephanopoulos) going to step down, and why are there three hosts for one show?

But an ABC spokesperson denied that Karl had any plans for the Stephanopoulos gig, commenting: “That’s not true. They maintain a friendly and mutually respectful relationship.

Stephanopoulos’ main ABC gig is, of course, on “Good Morning America” ​​— the network’s top-grossing show — where he has been a co-anchor since 2009.

Stephanopoulos joined the network in 1997 as an analyst for “This Week” and hosted the show from 2002 to 2010 — before returning as host a year later. He appears on the show once a month after “working seven days a week for years and years,” according to an insider.

The anchor had a political career working for Democratic presidential campaigns, including that of Bill Clinton, before becoming a journalist and television personality.

His political background made him an asset to ABC, but he suffered after parent company Disney recently settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the network for $16 million.

The settlement caused quite a ruckus at ABC, with journalists, including Stephanopoulos, left angry and perplexed by the company’s decision to settle.

During an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in March, the “This Week” host said Trump was “responsible for rape” while discussing the civil lawsuit won by journalist E. Jean Carroll , which led the president to Elect’s defamation lawsuit.

Multiple sources told us there was a lot of anger toward Stephanopoulos, “because of the attention (on the settlement)… It makes it difficult for everyone to do their job.”

Our first source says: “There are people who want George replaced, and it’s difficult for him to do a political show right now…. His greatest strength is politics, but how will he cover Donald Trump?

Meanwhile, Stephanopoulos has seen his entourage shrink within the network in recent years, leaving him without many allies.

A source previously described him as a “very cautious person” and told us: “his circle of trust is so small and a lot of them don’t work (at ABC).”

We’re told Stephanopoulos and Karl “respect each other,” but it’s become “team Karl vs. Stephanopoulos” around ABC according to our first source.