Trump threatens to sue authors of books he doesn’t approve of
In a move everyone not drinking the orange Kool-Aid saw coming from a mile away, Donald Trump is threatening to sue authors of books he doesn’t approve of — i.e. books critical of his magnanimous greatness — as he takes his war against free speech and the free press to the next level.
From the first day of his 2016 campaign through today, Donald Trump has hated the Constitution because it was created to protect our God-given rights by limiting the power of government. This hatred has been clearly evident ever since he waged his self-declared war against the news media, or as he likes to call it, the “enemy of the American people.”
Specifically, Trump’s disdain for the First Amendment reared its orange-colored head in February 2016 at a campaign rally when he promised to open up libel laws so that when the media “writes purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”
“If I win . . . I’m going to open our libel laws so when they write purposely negative horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”
In the months leading up to the 2018 midterms, Trump renewed his commitment to dismantle the First Amendment when he announced in a staff meeting that he would again pursue ways to expand libel laws to silence media outlets that publish unfavorable news about him and his policies.
“Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and do not represent American values and American fairness. We’re going to take a very, very strong look at that.
”You can’t say things that are false, knowingly false, and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account.”
Shortly following that staff meeting, lawyers for Trump and his campaign (Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.) announced in a letter to CNN intention to sue the network for “a substantial payment of damages” due to the network’s so-called anti-Trump bias. Lead attorney Charles Harder stated in part:
“Never in the history of this country has a President been the subject of such a sustained barrage of unfair, unfounded, unethical and unlawful attacks by so-called ‘mainstream’ news, as the current situation.
“My clients intend to file legal action against you, to seek compensatory damages, treble damages, punitive damages, injunction relief, reimbursement of legal costs, and all other available legal and equitable remedies, to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
From these few examples alone, we see Donald Trump’s animosity toward the First Amendment and how it protects free speech and freedom of the press, so his recent threat to sue authors who write books critical of him and his performance as president should come as no surprise (via livemint.com):
US President Donald Trump has vowed to take legal action against authors and media outlets that use anonymous sources in their reporting about him. The US President on Wednesday took to Truth Social and posted, “They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I’ll do it as a service to our Country. Who knows, maybe we will create some NICE NEW LAW!!!”
Donald Trump’s move comes after the publication of a new tell-all book ‘All Or Nothing’ by journalist Michael Wolff, which has sparked significant controversy and anger within Trump’s camp.
Donald Trump’s statement reflects his long-standing disdain for mainstream media, which he frequently labels as “fake news.” (Emphasis mine)
Trump’s threat to sue book authors is just another part of his plan to eliminate unfavorable media. Unfortunately, his war against the First Amendment seems to be working as free speech and freedom of the press have already been assaulted in the early days of his second term in office:
- He sued ABC News for allegedly using defamatory language and received a $15 million settlement.
- He sued CBS’s “60 Minutes” over perceived editing bias in a Kamala Harris interview and is about to receive a settlement.
- He sued the Des Moines Register for releasing polls before the election that were unfavorable of him — the outcome of this suit is still undecided.
Trump’s war on the media has also reaped him non-monetary rewards. For example, the decision by The Washington Post to withdraw its endorsement of Kamala Harris provided evidence of how he could successfully force a media outlet to do his bidding in the name of preserving their business interests.
Media bias is real and expected, but it’s not unconstitutional. What IS unconstitutional is any attempt by Trump and the Republican Party to silence free speech and freedom of the press simply because they don’t like what is being reported about them.
From the beginning, the Founding Fathers considered freedom of the press a bulwark against out-of-control government, and they believed that citizens should be free to use the press to freely criticize the government without interference:
“I am … for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
The First Amendment, even if it used in a biased manner, is vital for holding government accountable . . . and for securing liberty in America.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative and the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.
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