Friday, 04 July 2025

Gavin Newsom Files Lawsuit Against Fox News

100 Percent Fed Up
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sued Fox News, accusing the network of defaming him in its reporting of a phone call he had with President Trump.

The Democrat governor is seeking $787 million in damages.

According to reports, the lawsuit references a segment from host Jesse Watters.

In the suit, the lawyers alleged Watters claimed Newsom lied about his calls with Trump.

Newsom’s lawyers allege Watters’ program misleadingly edited a video of Trump regarding National Guard troops being sent to Los Angeles to support the claim.

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“No more lies. I’m suing Fox News for $787 million,” Newsom announced.

“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom told POLITICO.

Newsom’s lawsuit seeks damages almost identical to the amount Fox News had to pay Dominion after settling its defamation lawsuit.

“Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine,” Newsom added.

POLITICO also shared a statement from the network:

Fox News, in a statement, said, “Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”

Public officials must clear an extremely high legal standard to prevail in defamation cases, as the U.S. Supreme Court established six decades ago in New York Times v. Sullivan. But the lawsuit’s filing marks a pointed escalation in Newsom’s feud with the Republican president and his allies in media. Newsom is suing in his personal capacity and has agreed to pay any possible fines or penalties from his campaign account, aides said. Any proceeds from the case to Newsom would be disseminated to anti-Trump causes.

“Newsom is specifically demanding an on-air apology from Jesse Watters,” Collin Rugg wrote.

“Mr. Newsom’s lawyers also sent Fox News a letter demanding a formal retraction and an on-air apology from Jesse Watters, a host who said on his show that Mr. Newsom had lied about the call with the president,” Rugg wrote, citing The New York Times.

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“If those conditions are met, the letter states, Mr. Newsom will dismiss the lawsuit,” he added.

Rugg shared the clip from Jesse Watters’ program:

Per CNN:

In a lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court, Newsom’s attorneys allege Fox News defamed him by airing deceptively edited videos and making false statements claiming the Democratic governor lied about the phone call.

“Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” Fox News anchor Jesse Watters said in one segment cited in the lawsuit. Newsom’s attorneys also noted the segment featured a chyron reading, “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call.”

Newsom’s attorneys argued the network attempted to damage Newsom’s future political prospects. “Individual viewers who heard Fox’s statement that Governor Newsom was ‘lying’ about when he last spoke to President Trump are less likely to support Governor Newsom in future elections and are less likely to support Governor Newsom’s causes or contribute to his political organizations,” the attorneys wrote.


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