Donald Trump has sued popular news channel CNN for defamation, claiming that they fear him running in 2024, which is why they do what they do.
Lawyers for the one-term president filed the lawsuit, seeking $475m in punitive damages, in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Monday.
In July, Trump told the news channel that he intended to sue them for “repeated defamatory statements”. The lawsuit which was filed on Monday stated:
“CNN’s campaign of dissuasion in the form of libel and slander against the Plaintiff has only escalated in recent months as CNN fears the Plaintiff will run for president in 2024.”
“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the Left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.’”
“Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about the plaintiff and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence, purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source, to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically.”
Since the warning, the network has tried to move away from its stridently anti-Trump coverage in recent weeks, parting ways with several hosts and supporters seen as especially contentious towards the former president.
Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election and has strongly implied he will seek the Republican nomination again in 2024, although has stopped short of officially confirming it.
