Well I loathe and despise the use of lawsuits without merit to destroy people and their means. Even lawsuits with merit should be to right wrongs done by the defendant.
Don’t forget, the Left loves to use lawsuits, often without merit, to silence and destroy their enemies (us). Let’s be careful not to cheer our side along by applauding the same despicable tactics the bad guys use.
Having said that, I don’t think Trump’s suits are without merit and I hope he is trying to right wrongs, not destroy people.
The lawsuit is not without merit in any respect. Whether he is a public figure or not.
The privilege claimed by the authors of false statements against a public figure are found in the First Amendment. As such, the privilege is an “affirmative defense” to the defamation and must be both pled and proved by the defendant. The plaintiff need not self identify himself as a public figure or determine before the filing the absence of actual malice.
Accordingly, the suit is valid in every respect. Like all suits, there is a chance it will not be successful.