Trump sues CNN for defamation and seeks $475 MILLION in damages for calling him a ‘racist’ and ‘insurrectionist’ and comparing him to Hitler
- Trump filed lawsuit against CNN in federal court in Florida on Monday
- It accused the news organization of defamation and seeks $475M in damages
- It said CNN had stepped up its campaign against Trump in recent months ‘as CNN fears the plaintiff will run for president in 2024,’ reads the complaint
Former President Donald Trump on Monday accused CNN in federal court of defamation, launching legal proceedings seeking $475 million in punitive damages.
His complaint says the national news organization used its power and reach to defeat him politically.
And the court document claims that CNN has stepped up its attacks as Trump mulls whether to run for the presidency again in 2024.
‘Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about the plaintiff and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence— purportedly as a “trusted” news source—to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for “[getting] Trump out” in the 2020 presidential election,’ said the complaint written by Trump’s lawyers, and filed in federal court in Florida.
It accused the news channel of repeatedly defaming him, including comparisons with Hitler and calling him a ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ and ‘insurrectionist.’
It highlights on-air segments and written pieces published on CNN.com discussing Trump’s rejection of the 2020 election result as ‘the big lie’ – a term coined in German by Hitler in his writings incited hatred against Jews.
Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing CNN of defamation, and seeking $475 million in punitive damages for comparing him with Hitler
The suit claims CNN has repeatedly referred to Trump’s rejection of the 2020 election results as ‘the big lie’ – a phrase coined in German by Hitler as he whipped up hatred against Jews
The 29-page complaint claims CNN has stepped up its attacks in recent months amid speculation that Trump is preparing to announce a 2024 run for president
‘CNN’s highly defamatory and persistent association of the plaintiff to Hitler and Hitler’s “Big Lie” is no mistaken misappropriation,’ reads the complaint.
‘It is wanton and malicious “reporting” intended to feed a narrative and to achieve a desired end: to cause readers and viewers to associate the plaintiff with the lowest of low, to fear him, to not vote for him, and to support campaigns against him.’
It marks the latest salvo in Trump’s long-running feud with CNN.
He regularly encourages rally crowds to chant: ‘CNN sucks.’
Although Trump has branded multiple outlets as ‘fake news,’ he has reserved particular fury for CNN since before even becoming president.
‘Your organization is terrible,’ he told Jim Acosta, CNN’s senior White House correspondent in January 2017, just before taking office. ‘You are fake news!’
Trump claims in the 29-page lawsuit that CNN has stepped up its attacks in recent months.
‘CNN’s campaign of dissuasion in the form of libel and slander against the plaintiff has only escalated in recent months as CNN fears the plaintiff will run for president in 2024,’ reads the complaint.
‘As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the Left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of “racist,” “Russian lackey,” “insurrectionist,” and ultimately “Hitler.”‘
Trump has not yet announced a 2024 run, although he frequently teases the idea in interviews and in front of rally crowds.
His lawsuit is likely to face an uphill battle. Comparisons are generally viewed by courts as matters of opinion, rather than facts that can be defamatory.
Among the examples the complaint cites of comparisons with the Nazi leader is a special report in January 2022 that included footage of the German dictator.
It also references articles by Chris Cillizza, CNN editor-at-large. The complaint accuses him in on of likening Trump to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
‘One can only hope that Trump was unaware that his quote was a near-replication of this infamous line from Nazi Joseph Goebbels: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it,”‘ he writes.
The lawsuit comes as the former president faces a criminal investigation by the Justice Department for retaining government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.