This week, the editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch produced a scathing analysis of former President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CNN — and how the former president's own lies make it almost impossible for him to win the case.
"The network’s coverage, Trump complains, has caused him to suffer 'embarrassment, pain, humiliation and mental anguish.' If those criteria are sufficient to qualify for a lawsuit, the entire nation should be suing Trump for exactly the same," wrote the board. "But America’s grievances, substantial as they are, aren’t before the court. Trump’s lawsuit is. He asserts that CNN presenters and guest commentators undertook 'a smear campaign to malign' Trump 'with a barrage of negative associations and innuendos, broadcasting commentary that he is like a cult leader, a Russian lackey, a dog whistler to white supremacists, and a racist' whom the network compared to Adolf Hitler."
The fundamental problem for Trump, wrote the board, is that Trump has lied so often — and in ways that make him look like all of those things CNN accused him of being — that proving CNN knowingly defamed him, or in fact said anything false at all, is a monumental task.
"Trump still has to meet the standard of proving deliberate falsity, and his own record promises to trip him up at every turn. He was a serial liar, especially regarding his assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He behaved in public like a Russian lackey and invited Russia to meddle in U.S. elections," wrote the board. Furthermore, CNN can point to numerous statements that can be described as racist, from his claim the Charlottesville Nazis were "very fine people," to his description of Mitch McConnell's Taiwanese-American wife and his own former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as "China loving ... Coco Chow."
At the end of the day, there is no grounds for Trump to prove his case — something other legal experts have noted. And worse, the discovery process will end up putting Trump in a more humiliating spot.
"To defend itself, CNN is certain to subpoena Trump’s internal communications and records," concluded the board. "A treasure trove of juicy information awaits disclosure. In this game of chicken, the question is which side least wants its most embarrassing information to be exposed publicly."
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