This week, former President Donald Trump declared his plans to sue CNN, one of the most prolific disseminators of “fake news” that Trump has frequently denounced, over “continued defamatory statements” against him. He added that he would take comparable action against other media organizations as well.
The document, which is 282 pages long and addressed to CNN’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Licht as well as the network’s Executive Vice Pres. and Gen. Counsel David Vigilante, calls for the network to disclose what is referred to as:
“A complete and fair apology, correction, or retraction within ten days of the date of this notice shall be published in the same editions or the corresponding issues of the website publication in which said articles appeared and in as prominent a location and type as said original article, transcript, or broadcast.”
“Failure to publish such apology, correction, or retraction may result in the bringing of a lawsuit against you and damages to be sought against you, CNN,” the letter warns. It goes on to provide several examples of what Trump’s team claims are defamation.
The 2016 election is the first topic, in which Trump’s team claims that “CNN repeatedly enabled assertions that President Trump was unconstitutionally elected,” with “assertions that went largely unchecked.”
The letter also emphasizes the 2020 election, stating that “CNN’s reporting both before and after the election consistently fed a narrative that denigrated Trump’s legitimacy and competence.”
“Look at what we did. We got Trump out… I’m going to say it and believe it: If it weren’t for CNN, I don’t know if Trump would have been voted out. The results-oriented reporting appears to be evident in an undercover video in which a CNN employee boasted about the coverage of the 2020 presidential election. The employee stated that CNN helped to defeat President Trump in the 2020 election and referred to his employer as “propaganda.”
The following are additional examples given in the letter:
- CNN’s rush to brand President Trump a liar
- The Branding of President Trump as a Liar Continues to Compare Him to Nazis and Communists on CNN
- Willful and Continued Use of the “Big Lie” Terminology by CNN
- The Individualized Treatment of President Trump’s Thoughts vs. Those of Other Public Figures
- The document includes a number of situations.
“I’ve given notice to CNN of my plans to file a lawsuit regarding their continued defamatory remarks about me.” Trump said in a statement.
“I will also be taking legal action against other news organizations that have defamed me and deceived the public with regard to the tremendous evidence of fraud that occurred throughout the 2020 election,” he continued. He vowed to “never give up fighting for the truth and for our country’s future!”
