Donald Trump sued CNN Monday to sue them for defamation. He seeks $475 million for damages for what he terms a “defamatory” statement. “campaign of libel and slander”For “defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.”
The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court and obtained by , claims that CNN has dialed up the rhetoric because the news network fears he’ll run again in 2024.
“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left,”According to the lawsuit, “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.”
CNN did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Trump has been suing media outlets since the beginning of time. Trump sued CNN in 2020 for an opinion piece entitled “Soliciting dirt on your opponents from a foreign government is a crime.”Multiple such cases, including those filed against New York Times or New York Post, were not immediately resolved.
First Amendment scholars who have spoken to said that defamation suits like these are not likely to succeed.
More to come …
Loree seitz contributed to this article.