Former US president Donald Trump sued CNN on Monday, accusing the cable television news network of defamation and seeking $475 million in punitive damages.
Trump, in the lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Florida, accused CNN of waging a campaign of โlibel and slanderโ against him because it โfearsโ he will run for president again in 2024.
โCNN has sought to use its massive influence โ purportedly as a โtrustedโ news source โ to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically,โ Trumpโs lawyers said in the 29-page complaint.
โAs 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 โracist,โ โRussian lackey,โ โinsurrectionist,โ and ultimately โHitler,’โ the complaint said.
Trump, who requested a jury trial, had a caustic relationship with CNN and other major news outlets like The New York Times during his presidency, branding them โfake newsโ and repeatedly raging against them on social media.
