Former US President Donald Trump sued CNN on Monday, accusing it of defaming him out of fear he could run for president again in 2024 and seeking $475 million in damages. .
The Republican, who is increasingly openly flirting with the idea of running for the White House, believes that CNN “sought to use its immense influence” to “smear him to his viewers and readers to smear him politically.” ”, According to the text of the lawsuit filed in Florida.
“Defamation and slander”
“CNN’s deterrence campaign, in the form of defamation and slander against the plaintiff, has only intensified in recent months, as CNN fears that the plaintiff will run for president in 2024,” according to the same source.
Donald Trump accuses the channel of wanting to “tip the political balance to the left” by trying to “dirty it” with “a series of increasingly defamatory, false and scandalous qualifiers such as ‘racist’, ‘Russian lackey’, ‘insurrectional’ and , ultimately, ‘Hitler'”.
The businessman especially criticizes CNN for using the expression “the big lie” to talk about his accusations that Joe Biden “stole” the 2020 presidential election from him.
“The ‘Big Lie’ is a direct reference to a tactic employed by Adolf Hitler and featured in Mein Kampf,” according to the complaint. “The ‘Big Lie’ was used by Hitler to incite hatred of Jews” and is not to be “taken lightly”.
Its repeated use on the channel about Donald Trump — more than 7,700 times since January 2021, the complaint alleges — is “a deliberate attempt by CNN to convey to its audience an association between the complainant and one of the most repulsive personalities in history.” modern”. .
More complaints to come?
Donald Trump, 76, is seeking $475 million in damages. In a press release, the former president said late Monday that he would file a lawsuit against “a large number” of other outlets in the coming weeks and months, also for defamation.
He also said he could take action against the House Committee investigating the assault on Capitol Hill by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. Throughout his tenure, the former Republican president has had a dismal relationship with mainstream media like CNN and the New York Times, which he called “fake news” outlets. He regularly raged against them on Twitter, from where he has since been banned.
Source: BFM TV
