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Deadline Legal Blog-Trump loses defamation appeal over CNN's use of phrase 'Big Lie' in 2020 election coverage
The unanimous ruling came from a three-judge panel, which included two Trump appointees, and called the president’s arguments “meritless” and “untenable.”
Seems like the orange felon is having quite a day…
— Dr. Robert Karl (@drkarlauthor.bsky.social) 2025-11-18T23:24:38.795Z
Trump loses defamation appeal over CNN’s use of phrase ‘Big Lie’ in 2020 election coverage www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...
https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-defamation-cnn-big-lie-2020-appeal-rcna244649
President Donald Trump lost his bid to revive his defamation lawsuit against CNN for the network’s use of the phrase “Big Lie,” regarding his claims about the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden. The unanimous ruling came from a three-judge appellate panel on Tuesday, with two of the judges being Trump appointees.
U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, also a Trump appointee, had dismissed the president’s suit in 2023 on the grounds that the statements Trump complained about were opinion, not factually false statements, and that he hadn’t shown CNN acted with “actual malice.”
“We agree that Trump did not adequately plead falsity,” the panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said in affirming the Florida judge’s dismissal. The three judges on the panel were Obama appointee Adalberto Jordan and Trump appointees Kevin Newsom and Elizabeth Branch.
Trump argued that CNN’s use of the “Big Lie” phrase was intended to associate him with Hitler and Nazi propaganda. The panel deemed his claim “unpersuasive,” calling his assumption that the term is clear enough to be a factual statement “untenable.”
The panel called Trump’s other arguments “meritless.” Rejecting his claim that the district judge unfairly limited the analysis to the statements in his complaint, the panel reiterated that “Big Lie” isn’t a factual statement, so how often it was used is irrelevant.
U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, also a Trump appointee, had dismissed the president’s suit in 2023 on the grounds that the statements Trump complained about were opinion, not factually false statements, and that he hadn’t shown CNN acted with “actual malice.”
“We agree that Trump did not adequately plead falsity,” the panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said in affirming the Florida judge’s dismissal. The three judges on the panel were Obama appointee Adalberto Jordan and Trump appointees Kevin Newsom and Elizabeth Branch.
Trump argued that CNN’s use of the “Big Lie” phrase was intended to associate him with Hitler and Nazi propaganda. The panel deemed his claim “unpersuasive,” calling his assumption that the term is clear enough to be a factual statement “untenable.”
The panel called Trump’s other arguments “meritless.” Rejecting his claim that the district judge unfairly limited the analysis to the statements in his complaint, the panel reiterated that “Big Lie” isn’t a factual statement, so how often it was used is irrelevant.