Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is taking a page out of President Donald Trump’s playbook. He’s suing Fox News after what he alleges were lies shared by host Jesse Watters.
On Friday, Newsom launched a lawsuit seeking $787 million in damages from Fox News after Jesse Watters claimed the Democratic governor lied about phone calls with President Trump earlier this month. That figure is symbolic, as it’s the same number Fox News paid to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a lawsuit alleging that the network knowingly aired false claims about the validity of the 2020 election.
Newsom claims he spoke with President Trump on June 7th, about one day before more than 2,000 California National Guard members were deployed in Los Angeles to quell anti-ICE riots in the city. On June 10th, however, Trump claimed he had spoken with Newsom “a day ago”, which insinuated that he had spoken with the governor the day 700 U.S. Marines were sent to Los Angeles, which Newsom refuted.
Fox News anchor John Roberts shared a screenshot he obtained from President Trump that showed he had indeed spoken with Gavin Newsom on June 7th, as the governor previously stated.
In response, however, Jesse Watters alleged that Newsom had lied in his statements. “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” he said on the network.
Lawyers for the governor argue that Watters’ comments meet the legal standard for defamation and could have been harmful to Newsom’s reputation with voters.
“It is perhaps unsurprising that a near-octogenarian with a history of delusionary public statements and unhinged late-night social media screeds might confuse the dates,” the lawyers said. “But Fox’s decision to cover up for President Trump’s error cannot be so easily dismissed.”
In a statement to Politico, Gavin Newsom said the actions of Jesse Watters and Fox News deserve consequences.
“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said. “Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
In a statement provided to Barrett Media, Fox News said “Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”
Newsom is mimicking a strategy previously employed by Donald Trump, who launched lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News for their reporting on him on a variety of issues. ABC News settled the suit for $15 million, while CBS News is in the midst of attempting to settle the lawsuit brought forth by the President.
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