In San Francisco, California Governor Gavin Newsom has initiated legal proceedings against Fox News, alleging defamation. The lawsuit accuses the network of deliberately airing misleading information about a phone conversation he had with then-President Donald Trump around the period the National Guard was deployed to Los Angeles. The crux of the lawsuit is based on claims that Fox News anchor Jesse Watters manipulated a clip of Trump discussing a call with Newsom, omitting critical parts to imply dishonesty on Newsom’s part.
Pursuing $787 million in punitive damages, Newsom filed the lawsuit in Delaware, aligning it with a precedent where Fox settled a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems for the same amount in 2023. In that case, Dominion asserted that Fox persistently broadcast false claims that its voting machines shifted votes from Trump to Biden in the 2020 election, further illuminating the network’s efforts to retain its conservative audience following Biden’s win.
Newsom expressed his standpoint, stating, “If Fox News wants to deceive the American public in favor of Donald Trump, there should be repercussions — similar to the Dominion case.” He contends that it’s essential for the American public to rely on trustworthy information from major news broadcasters. Therefore, he’s seeking judicial intervention to compel Fox to cease the distribution of what he deems “false, deceptive, and fraudulent video and accompanying statements” suggesting he misrepresented details about his conversation with Trump concerning events in Los Angeles, where significant protests were unfolding against Trump’s immigration policies.
Fox News has countered the lawsuit with a statement, promising a robust defense and anticipating a favorable dismissal in their favor. The statement described the lawsuit as a “transparent publicity stunt” by Newsom, intended to suppress critical speech directed at him.
Central to Newsom’s legal complaint is the timing associated with the phone call made to the president. According to both Newsom and the White House, the conversation occurred late at night on June 6 in California, which was already June 7 on the East Coast. Newsom maintains that the topic of deploying the National Guard was never broached during their discussion, a move Trump announced the following day, justifying it as necessary for safeguarding federal buildings amid rising protests on immigration.
Subsequently, Trump declared plans to deploy Marines to the area. When the 700 Marines arrived on June 10, Trump informed reporters of another conversation with Newsom the previous day about sending troops. However, Newsom refuted this claim on social media, stating, “There was no call. Not even a voicemail.”
The controversy intensified on June 10, when Jesse Watters’ program aired a segment featuring Trump’s remark about a recent call with Newsom, though crucially edited to remove Trump’s context that the call was “a day ago.” Watters further mentioned call logs, made public by another Fox reporter, alleging the call occurred on June 6. Watters challenged Newsom on-air, questioning his motives for purportedly denying the call.
Newsom’s legal action asserts that Fox’s selective editing was a “malicious” attempt to disrupt national discourse. The precise timing of the call holds significance, as the Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles despite Newsom’s objections marked an extraordinary event, Newsom’s legal team emphasized in a communication to Fox seeking a retraction and on-air apology. They argue that accurate reporting was critical given the unfolding historical context, which warranted the investigative questioning to Trump about his last interaction with Newsom.
While defamation is notoriously difficult to prove legally, some cases end in settlements and can embroil media outlets in costly legal battles regardless of the eventual outcome. Historically, Trump has aggressively pursued legal actions against media entities for perceived slights, illustrated by ongoing settlement discussions with CBS News following a “60 Minutes” segment involving then-political opponent Kamala Harris. Furthermore, this past week, Trump’s attorneys warned both CNN and The New York Times of potential legal actions over their coverage of damage assessments relating to Iran’s nuclear program following a U.S. missile strike.