Former US president Donald Trump filed a defamation case against CNN on Monday. Trump is seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming the TV channel carried out a “campaign of libel and slander” against him.
Trump filed the lawsuit in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN had used its considerable influence to defeat him politically.
Donald Trump, a Republican, claimed in his 29-page lawsuit that CNN had a long track record of criticising him and ramped up its attacks in recent months because the network feared that he would run again for president in 2024.
The lawsuit also mentions several instances wherein CNN appeared to compare Trump to Hitler. It also includes a January 2022 special report by host Fareed Zakaria that included footage of the German dictator.
Trump, who in 2020 lost a re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden, has not said whether he would seek re-election.
In a statement, Donald Trump said he would be filing lawsuits against other major media groups “in the coming weeks and months.” He also said that he could even take action against a congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
