2023-07-29 18:17:27
A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s defamation suit against CNN, in which the former US president sought $475 million in damages from the channel.
Trump particularly criticized CNN for using the expression “the Big Lie” to refer to his allegations that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him by Joe Biden. He felt that in doing so, the channel was trying to “smear” him and draw comparisons between Adolf Hitler, Nazism and him.
“Bad rhetoric is not defamation”
On Friday evening, Judge Raag Singhal – who was appointed by Trump – dismissed the suit, ruling that CNN’s remarks were not defamatory because they constituted an opinion.
“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,” he wrote.
“The Court finds Nazi references in political speech (made by any ‘side’) abhorrent and repugnant. But bad rhetoric is not defamation when it does not include factually false statements,” he said.
Terrible relationship with the media
Donald Trump, the big favorite of the Republicans for the race for the White House, had filed a complaint against CNN in October. According to his complaint, “‘the Big Lie’ is a direct reference to a tactic employed by Adolf Hitler and appearing in my fight ».
Throughout his tenure, the former Republican president, now surrounded by business and indicted by the courts, had an abysmal relationship with mainstream media like CNN and the New York Timeswhich he dubbed “fake news” media.
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