A federal appeals court just dealt a major blow to Donald Trump’s battle against the media. They tossed out his high-profile defamation lawsuit against CNN saying that his claims have no merit. The lawsuit, which stemmed from CNN’s repeated use of the term “the big lie” to describe Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.” Yet, it also marks just another chapter in Trump’s ongoing legal struggles with the press.
According to CNN, this lawsuit started back in 2022, when Trump was frustrated by how the media was covering his attempts to overturn the election results, decided to sue CNN for defamation. Trump’s legal team argued that calling his election claims “the big lie” was not only inflammatory but a deliberate attempt to discredit him and his reputation.
Trumps attorneys argued that the “Big Lie” was a “”deliberate effort by CNN to propagate to its audience an association between the plaintiff and one of the most repugnant figures in modern history,” per Manchester Times.
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But on Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld an earlier ruling by a Florida judge. The court found that Trump’s claims did not meet the legal requirements of the legal for defamation.
The judges, including two Trump appointees, wrote that Trump failed to prove the crucial element of “falsity.” The court held, “Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements.”
According to the ruling, Trump’s insistence that he won the 2020 election and sought to cling to power is, in the panel’s view, open to many subjective interpretations, including that of CNN. As one judge put it, “The complained of statements are opinion, not factually false statements, and therefore are not actionable.”
The appellate opinion further shot down each of Trump’s remaining arguments, describing them as meritless. Remarkably, the court also pointed out that CNN’s commentary, while sometimes biting, was protected opinion rather than actionable falsehoods.
CNN declined to comment on the victory, but the outcome was met with little surprise by media industry observers. In recent years, Trump has faced criticism for pursuing legal challenges against media companies like Disney and Paramount, making this latest loss even more significant.
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Adding to the courtroom drama, Trump’s legal team faced some turmoil during this whole process. Jim Trusty, one of his attorneys, left after less than a year due to “irreconcilable differences.” Lindsey Halligan, another lawyer close to Trump, is still involved even though her role as interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia faces legal scrutiny.
Undeterred, Trump’s legal team issued a defiant statement after the ruling, vowing to continue the fight. “There is no doubt that Fake News CNN defamed President Trump and all of the tens of millions of Americans who have rightly stated the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged,” the spokesperson declared, promising further legal actions.
But with Tuesday’s ruling, the courts have made it clear. Passionate political debate,even when it gets heated, falls under protected free speech in American media. For Trump, it’s another setback in court. But for newsrooms across the country, it’s a reaffirmation of the freedom of the press.
