A judge ruled that calling Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen was not defamation as tossed the former president’s lawsuit against CNN.
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District Judge Raag Singhal, a 2019 appointee of Trump’s, said that use of the phrase or similar statements are opinion that don’t meet the standard for defamation.
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.
“Being “Hitler-like” is not a verifiable statement of fact that would support a defamation claim.”
The entire rationale for Trump’s presidential campaign is that the election was stolen from him, but the defamation ruling says that it is not defamatory to use the phrase the Big Lie when describing Trump’s claims, which means that Trump’s claims are not a statement of fact, and his presidential campaign is based on his opinion that the election was stolen from him.
Within the context of a defamation ruling, that is a stinging ruling given that the judge wasn’t ruling on whether or not Trump’s statements are factual but whether pointing out that Trump is lying and undermining democracy is defamatory.
Trump’s statements about the election being stolen are false. Rudy Guiliani admitted that the lies about two election workers in Georgia were never true.Â
Donald Trump is a sore loser who decided to attack and undermine democracy partly because he refuses to publicly admit that he lost. The Big Lie is a lie, and there is no basis for Trump to be running for president again.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
