Posted on 07/29/2023 10:14:36 AM PDT by Coronal
On Friday night, a judge dismissed former President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CNN in which the current 2024 front-runner for the Republican nomination claimed CNN’s coverage of his election lies equated him to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Judge Raag Singhal, a Trump-appointed judge, ruled that CNN referring to Trump’s claims about the election being stolen as “The Big Lie” did not meet the criteria for defamation despite Trump’s belief to the contrary.
"There is no question that the statements made by CNN meet the publication requirement for defamation under Florida law," Singhal wrote. "The next question is whether the statements were false statements of fact. This is where Trump’s defamation claims fail."
Trump claimed that “the use of the phrase ‘the Big Lie’ constitutes defamation” because it “create[s] a false and incendiary association between the Plaintiff and Hitler.”
He also argued that CNN using “the Big Lie” is defamatory because it “has incited readers and viewers to hate, contempt, distrust, ridicule, and even fear” Trump, which caused “injury to the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff’s reputation, and the Plaintiff’s political career.” Because of this, “Trump claims that viewers and readers ‘understood that Plaintiff would be Hitler-like in any future political role.'"
Singhal evaluated five instances Trump argued the network defamed him, including written columns and on-air segments that ranged from comparing the former president's rhetoric with Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels to linking his efforts at narrative shaping to those used in "authoritarian states."
However, Singhal determined the critiques of Trump were "opinion, not actually false statements." Despite harsh criticisms of news outlets and readers, Singhal wrote that CNN or any other organization operating with a "political motivation does not establish falsity."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Depends on which side of the lawsuit you’re on.
OWNED judge dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit.
How many time do have to read that.
OH WAIT 11/2024
But try saying that about Biden and see if you get away with it.
By avoiding making factual statements a propagandist may grossly mischaracterize without being liable for slander or libel.
True dat.
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