Former US President Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming that the network had carried out a "campaign of libel and slander" against him, Reuters reported.
Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that the network had used its influence as a leading news organization to defeat him politically.
He further says in the lawsuit that CNN used such defamatory labels against him as "racist," "Russian lackey," "insurrectionist" and "Hitler."
CNN declined to comment on the case.
During his time in office, Trump often clashed with CNN, which once described him as a “serial liar”, and described it as “Fake News”. In July, the former President threatened to sue the network over its use of the terms “Big lie” and “lying” in its reporting of his allegation that the 2020 election was rigged.
Trump is well remembered for his fiery exchange in 2018 with CNN’s then-chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, which resulted in the White House temporarily revoking Acosta’s press credentials.
In the wake of that incident Trump suggested that a new international television network should be formed to compete with CNN and present the greatness of the United States around the world.
Last month, the former President accused Fox News, on which he often appeared during his time in office, of pushing a Democratic agenda and offered to help CNN become a “gold mine” by going conservative.
“Wow! Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Gets worse every single day. So many Dems interviewed with only softball questions, then Republican counterparts get creamed.”
The former President proceeded to mention CNN and said, “If ‘low ratings’ CNN ever went conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them do so.”