The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, filed a defamation lawsuit against the conservative television network Fox News, demanding $787 million for lying about a series of discussions between him and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, in the controversial military deployment with the National Guard and the Marines during the protests against the anti-immigration raids orchestrated by the White House.
PUBLICIDAD
In the lawsuit, Newsom argues that one of the main figures on the network, the host Jesse Watters, accused the governor of lying about his phone conversations with Trump, who decided to activate the National Guard without informing the governor, which is highly unusual since it is usually governors who request their deployment.
PUBLICIDAD
Newsom’s lawyers argue that the Watters program deceptively edited a video of Trump to support the claim.
Newsom hardens position against Trump and his allies
The compensation request from Newsom, who is increasingly emerging as a possible Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2028, is almost identical to the $787.5 million that Fox News paid to Dominion Voting Systems, a voting system company, in 2023 to settle another defamation case related to false election claims.
“Newsom commented to the news portal Politico, “If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on behalf of Donald Trump, they should face the consequences, as happened in the Dominion case.” “Until FOX is willing to tell the truth, I will continue to fight against their propaganda machinery,” he added.
Newsom’s lawyers added that the governor is willing to withdraw the lawsuit if FOX retracts its statements and Watters apologizes to him live on air.
According to The New York Times, this lawsuit confirms that Newsom has taken “an increasingly combative attitude towards the president since Trump sent military troops to Los Angeles.” In this sense, the governor is imitating the president by suing a media outlet, in this case Fox News, a staunch ally of Trump.