I guess he’ll have to come for the rest of us, too.
Donald Trump said today that he plans to sue CNN for defamation, claiming the network and digital news outlet has been defaming him since the 2016 election. And he takes specific and particular issue with use of the term “Big Lie,” a phrase which nearly every mainstream news outlet in America has used as short hand for his attempted coup since the 2020 election.
Trump put out a statement through his Save America PAC today, saying he’s “notified CNN” of his “intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me.” He also said he does, in fact, plan to go after other media outlets.
“I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public regarding the overwhelming evidence of fraud throughout the 2020 Election. I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!”
Which, okay. Best of luck.
In a 282-page letter that Trump’s lawyers sent to CNN executives on July 21, the ex-president’s attorneys warned the network to retract or correct a bunch of online articles and comments made on live television. The lawyers detailed dozens and dozens of statements and published pieces they deemed defamatory, taking issue with the use of phrases like “lies,” “Big Lie,” “false narratives” and “baseless theories” to describe Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The letter would actually be kind of comical if it weren’t so cartoonish. Taking a page from the handbooks of literal fifth graders first learning to write an essay, Trump’s lawyers outline the “Webster’s Dictionary” definition of a “lie” to argue that Trump’s “comments are not lies” because “he subjectively believes that the results of the 2020 presidential election turned on fraudulent voting activity in several key states.”
You can read the full letter yourself here if you’re a masochist, but it essentially just repeats the same thing over and over as it outlines all the times in the past two years CNN has used the word “lie.”
CNN hasn’t responded to the threat yet. We’ll keep a half-eye on this.
The Best Of TPM Today
Here’s what you should read this evening:
New: Schumer And Manchin Unveil Deal On Climate And Drug Pricing
Senate Dems Slam GOP For ‘Trying To Distract’ From Their ‘Extreme Position’ On Contraception
GOP AGs Sue Over Anti-Discrimination Guidance For Free School Lunches
New in TPM Cafe: An Antidemocratic Philosophy Called ‘Neoreaction’ Is Creeping Into GOP Politics
Report: Hutchinson Cooperated With The DOJ’s Jan. 6 Investigation
Lol of the day: Congrats Gaetz, You Mocked A Teen’s Weight And Helped Her Raise $100k In Abortion Funds!
Biden’s in the clear: Biden Now Testing Negative For COVID, White House Announces
CPAC Keeping Orbán As Keynote Speaker Even After Nazi-Esque Rant Against ‘Race Mixing’
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Draft Opinion Leak Killed Roberts’ Efforts To Convince Conservative Justices To Save Roe — Cristina Cabrera
What We Are Reading
A Decisive Blow to the Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression — Christopher Lane
Life and death on America’s deadliest road — Marin Cogan
Because of Texas abortion law, her wanted pregnancy became a medical nightmare — Carrie Feibel
