Former President Trump has been the subject of the mainstream media since he launched his first presidential campaign in 2016. As a result of the leftist bias of the mainstream media, which criticized Trump at every chance, a variety of conservative news outlets have emerged.
Since 2026, major press headlines on Donald Trump have mostly painted an unfavorable picture. If the individual had been charged with every alleged offense, he would have been incarcerated a long time ago. In truth, he has never been charged with any of the crimes attributed to him by the leftist mainstream media.
Stephen Wermiel’s First Amendment Encyclopedia states:
“Actual malice” is the legal standard established by the Supreme court for libel cases to determine when public officials or public figures may recover damages in lawsuits against the news media. Public officials cannot win libel cases without proof of actual malice.”
Actual malice is defined as “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
Recognizing that the test is subjective, the Court needs evidence that the media had real reservations regarding the veracity or untruth of a report.
Therefore, the plaintiff has the duty of showing the defendant’s mental state. The real evidence must be “clear and convincing evidence”.
This requirement of malice applies to all public personalities, not just government officials. The criterion for private people differs slightly.
Therefore, for a prominent figure to prevail in such a lawsuit against the media, they have their work cut out for them.
However, winning such a lawsuit is not impossible. Nick Sandmann, a sophomore at Covington Catholic High School, was able to collect substantial cash settlements from both CNN and the Washington Post for their coverage of a story that implied he provoked a confrontation with an Indian activist.
The emergence of video evidence revealing that Nathan Phillips, Sandmann’s opponent, approached him finally disproved this account. The specific amounts of each settlement are currently unknown.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed Devin Nunes’s defamation claim against writer Ryan Lizza and Hearst Media to return to trial court in late 2021. Nunes is currently the president of the Trump Media & Technology Group, which was founded by the former California Republican congressman.
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
Now former President Donald Trump is fed up with a certain network that has repeatedly bashed him.
Trump is suing cable news outlet CNN for defamation, pointing to its hostile coverage of his administration.
Trump’s attorneys filed the suit on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. CONTINUE READING…