Trump has expanded one front (“the guy with the most money always wins”) of his multi-front war on non-kowtowing media by suing the New York Times for (cue Dr. Evil) $15, accusing them of defaming him.
What horrible, scurrilous, utterly unfounded, brazenly lying, callously malicious thing did the NYT say?
- They said he built his fortune and rep, in part, through fraud.
- They printed an interview with retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, his former chief-of-staff, who warned Trump met the definition of fascist.
- They credited producer Mark Burnett, not Trump, for the success of The Apprentice.
I suspect it’s that last one that stings Donald most.
The suit is a huge laugh, and is almost a dictionary definition of a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), designed to quell criticism by suing the snot out of anyone who criticizes. In such a suit, the smaller, less-well-funded party (the defendant) has to bankrupt themselves trying to defend the case, or else nearly bankrupt themselves settling and then publicly taking back everything the accuser didn’t like. It’s commonly used by big businesses to silence locals who speak out against their operations or projects. Trump has turned it into a personal weapon against those he doesn’t like.
In this case, though the NYT is a huge corporation, the Dear Leader’s deep pockets seem similarly limitless, especially since any number of wealthy backers (or, worse, already-impoverished-but-fanatical MAGA folk) will be happy to help pay into a Donald Trump Legal Defense Fund.
Indeed, the “smart” thing for the Times to do would be to settle, as so many other targets of Trump’s private and public judicial threats have done. We know how vindictive he can be to anyone who fails to show the level of respect he demands. He will gleefully pursue this suit to the bitter end — and beyond.
On the other hand, maybe the Democratic Party can sue Trump for defamation, based on the assertion in the filing that “Today, the Times is a full-throated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party.” I know a lot of Democrats who instead consider the NYT a namby-pamby centrist rag, so eager to seem impartial and above the fray that they both-sides the most ridiculous things. Not even the Dems are inept enough to run a propaganda operation that way, and implying they are is, thus, defamation.
Or maybe I can sue Trump for defamation. After all, he regularly posts things like this:
[blah blah blah mindless drivel blah blah] your Favorite President (ME!)
I find it deeply offensive that someone would accuse me of holding Trump (HIM!) as my Favorite President. Indeed, I believe this clearly and maliciously defames my intelligence, sanity, morality, taste, and patriotism.
I’m pretty sure I have a case. All I’m lacking is a herd of lickspittle attorneys and the implicit power of the US Government.