Donald Trump isn’t content with a quiet presidential retirement, and he has now filing a jugular lawsuit against CNN for a “smear campaign”.
The former reality TV show host is seeking $475 million in punitive damages from the broadcaster according to Forbes, with his legal team believing CNN has only increased their negative publicity of the man who inspired an attempted insurrection. Trump’s aides have alleged CNN have consistently voiced negative and defamatory characteristics, with the filing citing several articles and on-air presentations since 2020.
One of the most interesting things is the filing referencing a CNN article which commented that Trump had become known for repeating racist talking points. The several comparisons to Adolf Hitler have also been referenced in the suit, with CNN often discussing Trump as a threat to American democracy and noting similarities to the Nazi Party’s rise to power.
Curiously, some of the comments and quotes Trump has taken issue with were not made by CNN’s staff, but instead guests and two House Democrats. Ayanna Pressley had remarked on Trump going well beyond dog-whistles in his speeches, and it’s one of the comments Trump is taking CNN to court over.
Similarly to the Hitler comparisons, Trump’s team has taken issue with essentially Trump’s own remarks. The 45th President repeatedly spread lies over voter fraud, but CNN referring to Trump’s continuous election fraud charade as “the big lie” has them believing it’s a direct reference to Hitler’s words in Mein Kampf.
This isn’t the first time Trump has taken CNN to court, with a 2020 opinion piece on the broadcaster’s website causing him to sue. It was thrown out of court by a judge very quickly, with his team unable to show how the piece was done with malice.