California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s suing Fox News, which misunderstands viewers and says he’ll edit Trump videos to make Newsom look like a liar.
Active Marines deployed to anti-ice protests in Los Angeles
President Donald Trump is sending active-duty Marines to support law enforcement in immigration protests in Los Angeles, California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has denounced Fox News for defamation in a $787 million lawsuit, saying he intentionally misinterpreted viewers during his immigration enforcement protest in his state.
The June 27 application was filed in federal court in Delaware, and Fox News reporters and hosts misrepresented what President Donald Trump said, editing a video of Trump’s comments to make the two men pretend to lie when they spoke during the event.
The case application repeatedly references a $787 million settlement agreed by Fox in 2023 after news networks repeated Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen using equipment.
“If Fox News wants to lie to Americans on behalf of Donald Trump, it should face consequences – just like with Dominion.” “I think Americans should be able to trust the information they receive from major news outlets. I will continue to fight their propaganda machines until Fox is willing to be true.”
In a statement, Fox dismissed the lawsuit as “frivolous.”
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent propaganda stunts are frivolous and designed to cool free speech critical of him,” the statement reads. “We have a fierce defense of this incident and look forward to it being dismissed.”
According to the filing, Newsom brought the incident after Fox host Jesse Watters and reporter John Roberts allegedly lied to him the last time he spoke to Trump on the phone during a June protest in Los Angeles.
Newsom’s submission alleges he spoke with Trump for about 16 minutes on June 7, one day before he deployed 2,000 California National Guard members to Newsom’s objection to the Los Angeles protests.
“On June 7th, President Trump raised a demonstration in Los Angeles, which began that day, and neither discussed the use of the National Guard,” the submission said. “And when Governor Newsom tried to discuss the situation in Los Angeles, President Trump steered the topic away.
Trump told reporters on June 10 that he spoke with Newsom, who said “a day ago.”
Newsom refuted Trump’s claims in a post on X, previously known as Twitter, saying that a few minutes later, “There were no phone calls, there were no voicemails. Americans should be wary that the president doesn’t even know who he’s talking to, even about deploying Marines on our streets.”
Newsom’s lawyers claim that Watters’ program will edit Trump’s video to support the president’s claims and make Newsom seem lying about their communications. They also claim that Roberts hedges Trump’s words to make him appear to be talking about the June 7th call, claiming Newsom is lying.
Newsom is appealing as an individual, not as his abilities as governor.
Newsom’s lawyers filed the case meets legal standards for defamation, claiming that it could harm the governor’s position with voters in future elections. Furthermore, they argue that it violates California’s unfair competition law, which prohibits “deceptive and unfair business practices.”
