Former US Republican President Donald Trump is suing CNN for defamation and seeking $475 million in punitive damages.
Trump filed the suit in Florida’s federal court, court documents revealed on Monday.
Trump’s laywers say the network “has sought to use its massive influence — purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source — to defame the Plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for ‘[getting] Trump out’ in the 2020 presidential election.”
In July, Trump said he would sue the network for defamation, The Post Millennial reports.
“I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me,” Trump’s statement reads.
“I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public regarded the overwhelming evidence of fraud throughout the 20202 Election. I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!”
Trump 29-page lawsuit claims that CNN has a long track record of criticizing him. The network, he alleges, has started up those efforts over fear he’ll make a 2024 presidential bid.
“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 ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist’, ‘Russian lackey’, ‘insurrectionist’, and ultimately ‘Hitler’,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit lists several instances in which the network appears to compare the former President to Adolf Hitler — including a January 2022 report which included footage of the German dictator.
The lawsuit also refers to the “big lie,” stating, “One of the most pervasive associations between the Plaintiff and Hitler that CNN has employed is its use of the term the ‘Big Lie’ in relation to the Plaintiff’s stated concerns about the integrity of the election process for the 2020 presidential election.”
Trump has not said whether he will seek re-election.
CNN declined to comment on the case, according to Reuters news agency.