A federal appeals court rejected President Trump’s effort to revisit a case he brought against CNN.
“First, although he concedes that CNN’s use of the term ‘Big Lie’ is, to some extent, ambiguous, he assumes that it is unambiguous enough to constitute a statement of fact,” the court found. “This assumption is untenable.”
“Second, Trump’s argument hinges on the fact that his own interpretation of his conduct — i.e., that he was exercising a constitutional right to identify his concerns with the integrity of elections — is true and that CNN’s interpretation — i.e., that Trump was peddling his ‘Big Lie’ — is false,” the panel explained. “However, his conduct is susceptible to multiple subjective interpretations, including CNN’s.”
“Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements. Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim,” the decision adds, going on to say that the president’s “other arguments are likewise meritless.”
In 2023, U.S. District Judge Anuraag Singhal dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against the network, arguing that “CNN’s statements while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory.”
“The case will, therefore, be dismissed with prejudice,” the judge ruled.
“There is no doubt that Fake News CNN defamed President Trump and all of the tens of millions of Americans who have rightly stated that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged and stolen by Crooked Joe Biden and his handlers,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told CNN. “President Trump will continue to hold the mainstream media accountable and will pursue this case against CNN to its just and deserved conclusion.”
