In response to the arrests and subsequent protests in Los Angeles, California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a $ 787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging the network misreported a phone call between him and US President Donald Trump earlier this month.
The complaint was filed in Delaware Superior Court, the state where Fox Corp. is incorporated, on Friday.
Late on the East Coast, shortly after protests broke out in Los Angeles following federal immigration raids, Newsom spoke with Trump by phone.
Less than 24 hours later, the governor’s office was bypassed by the president who sent 700 Marines and National Guard troops to the state.
Newsom claimed in an interview with NBC News on June 8 that he had a friendly conversation with the president, but that he had never mentioned sending the National Guard.
He wanted to talk about all these other issues, and I tried to talk about LA, Newsom said.
He continued, “He never raised the National Guard.”
After Trump falsely telling reporters on June 10 that he had spoken with the governor “a day ago,” Newsom claimed he had not spoken with Trump again and confirmed this.
The network allegedly smeared Governor Newsom in a dispute over the time when the two last spoke during a time of national strife, in order to shield President Trump from his own false statements.
According to the complaint, Fox did act with actual malice in an effort to demonize Newsom and win over Trump while also producing a misleading video clip and numerous fabricated statements about the call’s timing.
Why would Newsom fabricate a claim that Trump never called him? According to the complaint, Watters claimed on his show Jesse Watters Primetime on June 10.
A chyron, a banner caption along the bottom of a TV screen that read “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call,” was included in Watters’ report as well.
Fox’s claim that Newsom lied was intended to “provoke outrage and harm Governor Newsom significantly,” the complaint claims, by causing a decline in support for his causes, donations to his campaigns, and electoral votes for him.
“Gov. Free speech critics against him are stifled by Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt. A Fox News spokesman told Al Jazeera in an email that “we will vigorously defend this case and look forward to its dismissal.”
According to Al Jazeera’s follow-up, the network did not provide any clarification when asked if Watters and his production team fact-checked the claims made before making the request. This is industry standard.
The $787.5 million that Fox paid in 2023 to settle Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit over alleged vote-rigging in the 2020 US presidential election is nearly identical to Newsom’s request for punitive damages.
In order for Newsom to win in his lawsuit, Newsom would need to demonstrate that Fox had actual malice in acting, which included knowing its assertions were false or had a blatant disregard for their truth.
If Fox issued a retraction and host Jesse Watters apologized on air for calling the governor a liar about his conversation with Trump, Newsom would drop the lawsuit, according to the New York Times.
Because Newsom is pursuing the lawsuit in his own right and not through the office, the governor’s office informed Al Jazeera.
According to Newsom, “Fox News should face consequences if it lies to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, just like it did in the Dominion case.” I think the information that comes from a major news outlet should be trusted by Americans. I’ll continue to fight Fox’s propaganda machine until they are willing to be truthful.
Out of the Playbook of Donald Trump
Trump has filed a lawsuit in response to his ongoing criticism of news outlets. After the network falsely claimed that a jury had found Trump guilty of rape in the civil case involving E Jean Carroll rather than sexual assault, he settled with ABC News for $15 million.
Former White House correspondent Terry Moran’s call of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a “world-class hater” was the subject of a recent investigation by The White House. Moran was later terminated from the network and later suspended.
Trump also sued CBS News for $ 20 billion for editing a 60 Minutes interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, which was reportedly mediated into a $ 20 million settlement with parent company Paramount Global, raising concerns in the news department. A merger between Paramount and Skydance is pending.
Source: Aljazeera
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