US appeals court upholds dismissal of Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN

A US federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of former president Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CNN over its use of the term “Big Lie” to describe his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump had sought $475 million in damages in a lawsuit filed in Florida, arguing that CNN’s repeated use of the phrase linked him to the propaganda tactics of Adolf Hitler. He claimed the network intentionally encouraged viewers to associate him with “one of the most repugnant figures in modern history.”

The suit was thrown out in July 2023 by District Judge Raag Singhal, a Trump appointee, who ruled that the statements CNN made were opinion rather than provably false assertions and therefore could not be the basis of a defamation claim.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which included two judges appointed by Trump, affirmed the decision, stating that Trump “has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements” and had therefore failed to state a valid defamation case.

Trump, who returned to the White House in January after winning the 2024 election, continues to falsely claim that he was the legitimate winner of the 2020 race against Joe Biden. His relationship with major news organizations, including CNN, has long been contentious, with Trump frequently attacking them as “fake news.”

He has filed numerous lawsuits against media outlets over the years, securing financial settlements in some instances. Last week he threatened to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion over what he said was a misleading edit of a speech he gave before the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Trump had been accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results, but the case was dropped after the 2024 election under a Justice Department policy that bars indicting a sitting president.

SR