Trump Challenges CNN To Prove His Election Claims False
As former President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN moves forward, he is speaking out publicly against the network’s repeated depiction of his election fraud concerns as “the big lie.”
During a recent interview, Trump challenged the network to prove that he is wrong to question the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.
“They’ll say whatever comes to mind,” he claimed. “They talk about the big lie. I said, well, prove the big lie. The big lie is not a big lie at all. The big lie is the opposite.”
While lamenting the fact that “we haven’t had judges that want to look at it,” Trump asserted that “all the stats” back up his assertions.
“And so we sued CNN for a lot of money and we’ll see how that goes,” he added. “I think it should go very well.”
The suit filed earlier this month in Florida makes the argument that CNN engaged in defamation “for the purpose of defeating [Trump] politically.”
In addition to repeatedly using the term “the big lie” to address his election fraud remarks, attorneys noted that a pair of CNN guests were busted by fact-checkers for claiming that he “is as destructive a person in this century as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were in the last century.”
Months before initiating the lawsuit, which seeks $475 million in damages, Trump expressed a desire to take CNN — and potentially other news outlets — to court. In July, he released a statement confirming that he had already notified the network of his intentions.
“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,” he added. “I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!”
A letter sent to CNN at the time further outlines Trump’s complaints about the network’s coverage, including dozens of allegedly “false and defamatory” statements by on-air reporters and guests.
“Without regard for President Trump’s genuine belief in his statements, CNN has published numerous articles characterizing him as a ‘liar’ and the purveyor of the ‘Big Lie,’” the letter asserted.
