Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN, seeking $475 million in punitive damages.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, attorneys for Trump claimed that the network used its influence as a trusted news sources 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.”
Attorneys also claim in the lawsuit that CNN “has undertaken a smear campaign to malign the Plaintiff with a barrage of negative associations and innuendos, broadcasting commentary that he is like a cult leader, a Russian lackey, a dog whistler to white supremacists, and a racist.”
Trump announced plans to sue the network in July over what he calls “repeated defamatory statements against me.”
“Without regard for President Trump’s genuine belief in his statements, CNN has published numerous articles characterizing him as a ‘liar’ and the purveyor of the ‘Big Lie,’” a letter from Trump’s attorneys to CNN read.
However, proving defamation is a high legal bar to clear considering the First Amendment protections granted to the free press under the Constitution, the Hill noted. Trump will have to prove that CNN journalists acted with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth in their reporting.
