‘They Will Win!’ Dan Abrams Urges Media Orgs To Fight Trump on ‘Meritless’ Lawsuits After CNN’s Court Victory

Dan Abrams urged media companies on Wednesday to punch back against President Donald Trump whenever he files a “ridiculous” lawsuit against them, because, as CNN just showed in court, “they will win!”

Abrams made his plea to outlets one day after a U.S. appeals court upheld the dismissal of a Trump lawsuit against CNN. The president sued the cable channel in 2022 for $475 million after several of its reporters referred to his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged as “The Big Lie.”

“Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements,” the three-judge panel wrote. “Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim.”

Two of the judges, Abrams noted on his SiriusXM program, The Dan Abrams Show, were appointed by Trump, while another was appointed by former President Barack Obama. The judges, he noted, described Trump’s case as “meritless” and “susceptible to multiple subjective interpretations.”

“Meaning, Trump would have to prove it is not true, that it was a lie,” Abrams explained. “And their point was there is no way he could prove it — of course there’s no way he could prove that.”

He said, at the top of the segment, the ruling from the 11th Court of Appeals should galvanize other outlets to fight Trump in the future.

“Here’s why this is so important — this shows you what happens when a media organization actually is willing to fight the Trump Administration on some of their ridiculous lawsuits,” Abrams said.

The same lawsuit also claimed CNN had associated Trump and his supporters with Adolf Hitler and Nazis. The judges ruled that those are “statements of opinion,” which Abrams said was obviously the case.

A Trump spokesperson on Tuesday ripped the decision in a statement.

“There is no doubt that fake news CNN defamed President Trump and all of the tens of millions of Americans who have rightly stated that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen by crooked Joe Biden and his handlers,” the statement said.

Abrams, who is the founder of Mediaite, mocked it, calling it a “shocking response.”

He also noted, “Guess who the original lawsuit against CNN was filed by? Ohhhh her name is Lindsey Halligan! She’s the same one that screwed up the grand jury!”

The Tuesday ruling comes after President Trump has already settled high-profile cases with Paramount and CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris leading up to the 2024 election.

He also reached a $15 million settlement with ABC News late last year, after George Stephanopoulos said on air several times that Trump was found “liable for rape” in the civil case E. Jean Carroll brought against him. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse, rather, which carries a different definition in New York.

And most recently, the president has threatened to sue the BBC after it “doctored” footage to make it look like he called for violence before the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.

Abrams said the CNN case showed media companies can stand up to Trump on his 2020 election claims. He also said he does not expect it to go any further than it already has.

“This case is going nowhere, and even if it were to end up somehow in a trial, [does] Donald Trump really want to litigate in court the 2020 election? He doesn’t. He can’t,” Abrams said. “What? He’s going to testify? Come on, we’re not that dumb. Of course, this case isn’t going to trial.”

He added, “This is my point — is if a media organization on one of these meritless cases is willing to fight Trump, they’ll win!”

Watch above, via The Dan Abrams Show on SiriusXM 124.

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