Trump's $475 million 'Big Lie' lawsuit against CNN quashed by US court
Donald Trump
A US federal judge has quashed the $475 million defamation lawsuit by former US president Donald Trump against CNN for allegedly likening him to Adolf Hitler.
US District Judge Raag Singhal, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, in his judgement noted that while "CNN's statements" were "repugnant", they could not be considered "defamatory".
"There is no question that the statements made by CNN meet the publication requirement for defamation under Florida law. The next question is whether the statements were false statements of fact. This is where Trump's defamation claims fail," wrote Singhal.
"CNN's use of the phrase 'the Big Lie' in connection with Trump's election challenges does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people."
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The court added that the mere use of the phrase was not enough to give rise to a true connotation.
"No reasonable viewer could (or should) plausibly make that reference."
The lawsuit
Notably, it was in October 2022 that Trump filed the lawsuit, highlighting five instances where the mainstream media house either published stories or comments, referring to Trump's assertion about the 2020 election as his “big lie”.
The phrase has a colourful history as it is associated with the Nazi regime's use of propaganda to justify the persecution of Jews.
"Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,"is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. However, prior to Goebbels, Hitler, in his Mein Kampf had first referenced the description of the phrase, according to the European Center for Populism Studies.
Trump's team argued that the wording in CNN programming was “a deliberate effort to propagate to its audience an association between the plaintiff and one of the most repugnant figures in modern history”.
However, after the verdict, Trump's spokesperson said they respected the judge's decision without divulging if an appeal would be filed against the decision or not.
“We agree with the highly respected judge’s findings that CNN’s statements about president Trump are repugnant. CNN will be held responsible for their wrongful mistreatment of president Trump and his supporters.”
Trump's legal woes
Trump, who is in the running to securea Republican ticket for the 2024 presidential elections, has been mired in court cases throughout the tear. Nearly eight months into the year and he has already been inducted twice and faced 40 criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified government documents.
(With inputs from agencies)
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