Donald Trump on Monday sued CNN for defamation, seeking $475 million in damages for what he calls a “campaign of libel and slander” for “defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.”
The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court and obtained by TheWrap, claims that CNN has dialed up the rhetoric because the news network fears he’ll run again in 2024.
“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left,” the lawsuit reads, “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.”
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has made a habit of suing media outlets going back to time immemorial. He sued CNN as recently as 2020 over an opinion piece titled “Soliciting dirt on your opponents from a foreign government is a crime.” The disposition of multiple cases, including filed against the New York Times and New York Post, could not be immediately determined.
More to come …
Loree Seitz contributed to this report.
