Two federal appeals court judges appointed by President Donald Trump rejected his arguments as “meritless” and “unpersuasive” when agreeing with a lower courts decision to dismiss Trump’s $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN for its coverage of the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Adalberto Jordan, Kevin Newsom, and Elizabeth L. Branch issued the decision affirming the lower court’s ruling on Tuesday.
“Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements. Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim,” the panel of judges wrote in their decision.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email Tuesday morning. CNN declined to comment.
Why It Matters
The president has targeted multiple news outlets over their coverage of him over the years, most recently securing an apology from the BBC over its editing of coverage from January 6. He has also repeatedly come up against judges he appointed, who have challenged his policies and personal lawsuits, often framing these justices as radicals who are overstepping.
What To Know
Trump brought the lawsuit against CNN in 2022, while he was out of office, accusing the network of defamation for using the term “big lie” when referring to his challenges to the 2020 election results, and allegedly comparing him to Hitler.
“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 evermore scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler’,” the filing at the time read.
“These labels are neither hyperbolic nor opinion: these are repeatedly reported as true fact, with purported factual support, by allegedly ‘reputable’ newscasters, acting not merely with reckless disregard for the truth of their statements (sufficient to meet the definition of the legal standard for ‘actual malice’) but acting with real animosity for the Plaintiff and seeking to cause him true harm (the way ‘actual malice’ commonly is understood).”
The then former president sought $475 million in damages when he filed the case in Florida, believing he could prove CNN had deliberately sought to taint his reputation and therefore his chances in a future election.
When was Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN Dismissed?
In July 2023, District Judge Raag Singhal ruled that the comments Trump had highlighted could not be considered defamation, effectively throwing the case out.
“CNN’s use of the phrase ‘the Big Lie’ in connection with Trump’s election challenges does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people. No reasonable viewer could (or should) plausibly make that reference,” Singhal wrote at the time.
The judge added that use of Nazi-related rhetoric or comparisons from any side was “odious and repugnant,” but that rhetoric was not defamation if no false statements of fact were made.
Trump challenged this decision, leading to the case being heard by his appointees Newsom and Branch, and Jordan who was appointed to his current role by former President Barack Obama at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In their Tuesday ruling, the justices said that CNN had never claimed Trump’s actions and statements were designed to be variations of those made by Hitler, calling Trump’s argument “unpersuasive.”
CNN, ABC and Other Media Companies Trump Has Sued
Trump has a long history of suing, or threatening to sue, media companies, stretching back to the 1980s when he sought damages from The Chicago Tribune over a columnist’s piece which he said “torpedoed” his Manhattan skyscraper plans.
In recent years, the president has sued the American Broadcasting Companies (ABC) over falsely stating he had been found liable for rape, CBS over its editing of a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, The Wall Street Journal over its reporting related to a letter from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, and The New York Times. He has most recently threatened to sue the BBC.
What People Are Saying
11th Circuit Court of Appeals judges in their Tuesday ruling: “Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements. Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim. Trump’s other arguments are likewise meritless.”
President Donald Trump, talking about the media at the Department of Justice in March: “The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and MSDNC, and the fake news, CNN and ABC, CBS and NBC, they’ll write whatever they say. And what do you do to get rid of it? You convict Trump. It’s totally illegal what they do.”
What’s Next
Trump’s case against CNN appears to be finished, but the president is pursuing lawsuits against other outlets.