Former President Donald Trump is suing CNN for defamation, seeking at least $475 million in punitive damages, according to a court filing on Monday.
Trump’s lawyers claim in the lawsuit that the cable news network has recently increased a campaign of libel and slander against Trump over fear that he will run for president again in 2024. The former president sued the news outlet in federal court in Florida.
“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,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
Some of the “ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels” that the news outlet has given to the former president include “‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler,’” Trump’s lawyers said in the lawsuit.
The former president threatened to sue CNN in July, demanding the network take down, retract, and cease and desist the use of the terms “Big Lie” and “lying” when reporting on his challenges to the 2020 election results. The letter, addressed to CNN CEO Chris Licht and CNN Executive Vice President and General Counsel David Vigilante, stated that the network had until the start of August to publish a correction, apology, or retraction for the articles and broadcasts calling Trump a liar.
Trump, whose claims of a stolen election have been roundly rejected by courts and election officials, said in a statement on Monday that he plans to file lawsuits against “a large number of other Fake News Media Companies for their lies, defamation, and wrongdoing, including as it pertains to ‘The Big Lie,’ that they used so often in reference to their disinformation attack on Presidential Election of 2020.”
He added, “I am proud to file today’s lawsuit in order to begin the process of standing up to Fake News and the Mainstream Media.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A spokesperson for CNN told the Washington Examiner the network is “not planning to comment.”
Trump has heavily teased another run for the White House in 2024 but has not yet declared his candidacy.
