Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump has been working tirelessly to rebuild America’s institutions, including the media. Staying true to form, he stated this week that he plans to sue CNN, one of the most ardent purveyors of what he refers to as “fake news.”
Before taking the oath of office as President of the United States, Trump notoriously told CNN’s Jim Acosta that he was “fake news” and refused to answer his question.
Name a current problem NOT caused by fake news.
It's harder than you think.
Fake news is the root cause of Jan6th, our energy problems, Ukraine, Covid, ongoing systemic racism, and on and on.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) July 20, 2022
In a recent court document, Trump demanded that CNN delete its “repeated defamatory comments” against him and threatened to take similar action against other media organizations if they did not comply.
Trump’s legal team requests that CNN publish the following in a 282-page letter to the network’s CEO Chris Licht and executive vice president and general counsel David Vigilante:
“…a full and fair correction, apology, or retraction, in the same editions or corresponding issues of the website publication in which the aforementioned articles, transcripts, or broadcasts appeared and in as conspicuous a place and type as said original article, transcript or broadcast within ten (10) days from the date of service of this notice.”
The documents continue:
“Failure to publish such a correction, apology, or retraction will result in the filing of a lawsuit and damages being sought against you, CNN.”
Trump’s team mentions that CNN “repeatedly allowed for accusations that President Trump was illegitimately elected” during the 2016 election, and that these assertions “mostly went uncontested.” This is the first issue on the list.
The letter, according to Breitbart News, also addresses the upcoming election in 2020, arguing that CNN’s reporting “both before the election as well as after the election, repeatedly supported a narrative that criticized President Trump’s legitimacy and competency”:
The reporting appears to be results-oriented, as betrayed in an undercover video: A CNN employee was filmed discussing the Defendant’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election. The employee boasted that CNN helped to defeat President Trump in the 2020 election and called the Defendant, his employer, “propaganda.” Id.: “Look at what we did, we got Trump out… I am 100% going to say it. And I 100% believe it that if it wasn’t for CNN, I don’t know that Trump would have got voted out.”
Additional illustrations in the letter include:
CNN’s Rush to Label President Trump a Liar
CNN’s Branding of President Trump as a Liar Extends to Likening Him to Nazis and Communists
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
CNN’s Willful and Continued Usage of the “Big Lie” Characterization
The Unique Treatment of President Trump’s Beliefs Versus Those Belonging to Other Public Figures
The report provides numerous examples.
“I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me,” Trump said in a statement released by his Save America PAC on Wednesday.