Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday for what he called a “campaign of slander and slander” for his derogatory label of “racist,” “Russian shortcoming,” “rebellious,” and ultimately “Hitler.” demanded $ 475 million for.
The lawsuit, filed in Florida federal court and obtained by TheWrap, claims that CNN has dialed down the rhetoric because the news network fears it will run again in 2024.
“As part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left,” the lawsuit reads, “CNN attempted to stigmatize the plaintiffs with a series of more reprehensible, false and defamatory labels of ‘racist. The Russian reduction, ‘rebellious,’ and eventually ‘Hitler’.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has made a habit of prosecuting media outlets since time immemorial. He sued CNN over an opinion piece as recently as 2020 entitled “It is a crime to ask a foreign government to filth on its opponents.” The settlement of many such cases, including several cases filed against the New York Times and the New York Post in recent years, could not be determined immediately.
A First Amendment scholar who spoke to TheWrap said such defamation lawsuits are unlikely to succeed.
The lawsuit takes special issue with the alleged comparison to Hitler, saying it displays “genuine malice”, a key component of any defamation action:
“Most notably, and, the subject of this complaint, is CNN’s continued affiliation of plaintiffs with Adolf Hitler and Nazism. When running for president or plaintiff’s achievements as president, to undermine plaintiff’s candidacy, ‘racist’ ,’ ‘Russian reduction,’ and ‘rebel’ did not have the desired effect, CNN bet to add associations between the plaintiff and arguably the most heinous man in modern history.”
more to come …
Loree Seitz contributed to this report,