Former President Donald Trump continues to use a defamation lawsuit against news outlet CNN in his fundraising efforts.
According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, Trump mentioned the lawsuit in a fundraising email sent out this week.
“I am SUING the Corrupt News Network (CNN) for DEFAMING and SLANDERING my name,” said the email sent less than 24 hours after the lawsuit was filed. according to Bloomberg. It asked supporters to donate $5 to Trump’s cause. “Remember, when they come after ME, they are really coming after YOU.”
Even before the suit was filed, Trump – who is not currently running for office but has hinted at a 2024 presidential run – was using it as a fundraising motivator, said an August report in the Daily Beast.
“I’m calling on my best and most dedicated supporters to add their names to stand with me in my impending LAWSUIT against Fake News CNN,” said a previous fundraising email cited by that outlet. He sent even more CNN-related emails this summer, the Daily Beast added.
The suit was finally filed Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – more than a month after those emails – according to Bloomberg. Trump is seeking $475 million in damages for “alleged reports that compared him to Adolf Hitler and accused him of being racist,” it said. Bloomberg noted that CNN is a frequent target of Trump and his supporters.
“A lawsuit was filed today against CNN, the once prestigious news channel that has devolved into a purveyor of disinformation, defamation, and Fake News, at a level which the American Public, and indeed the World, will not even believe is possible,” said a message posted Tuesday on Trump’s website.
In the message, Trump complained about CNN’s use of the term “The Big Lie” to refer to the former president’s unfounded claims of election fraud related to the 2020 presidential election. Trump lost both the popular vote and electoral college vote in that election to current President Joe Biden.
“‘The Big Lie’ that they constantly refer to is actually ‘The Big Lie’ in reverse, Trump said. “They know that, and it will be proven in Court!”
Trump also said he plans to file lawsuits against “a large number of other Fake News Media Companies for their lies, defamation, and wrongdoing, including as it pertains to ‘The Big Lie,’ that they used so often in reference to their disinformation attack on Presidential Election of 2020,” as well as the House Select Committee investigating the deadly Capitol riot last year on Jan 6.
Election fraud claims played a role in the riot and participants aimed to disrupt the confirmation of election results for Biden, according to the Department of Justice. Trump also gave a speech referencing election fraud claims in Washington D.C. around the time of the insurrection.
Trump claimed Tuesday that he “recommended and authorized thousands of troops to be deployed to ensure that there was peace, safety, and security at the Capitol and throughout the Country,” ahead of Jan. 6.
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