A federal judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump's $475 million defamation lawsuit against multi-national news channel CNN. Trump claimed that the network's use of the term "big lie" in relation to his election fraud allegations associated him with Adolf Hitler.
However, Judge Raag Singhal, a nominee of Trump in 2019, ruled on Friday night that CNN's statements were opinion and not factual, thus not qualifying as defamation, according to a Reuters report.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2022, cited five instances where CNN used the term "big lie" in reference to Trump's claims about the 2020 election. Trump's legal team argued that this wording intentionally sought to link him to a historically reprehensible figure. Nonetheless, Judge Singhal asserted that the mere use of the phrase "big lie" was not sufficient to establish a defamatory context.
In response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Trump expressed agreement with the judge's acknowledgment of CNN's statements being "repugnant," but the spokesperson did not indicate whether they plan to appeal the decision, Reuters reported.
Throughout his political career, Trump has been known to target media outlets that he perceives as unfavorable, and CNN has been a prominent subject of his criticism. Despite facing state and federal indictments, Trump remains a leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
