California Gov. Newsom responded to the motion, saying Fox News should face consequences.
Fox News is asking the court to dismiss California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s defamation lawsuit against the media giant over the date of a June phone call between the governor and President Donald Trump in its news reports.
The motion to strike the case was filed Aug. 5 and also asks the court to require the governor to pay Fox News’ attorneys’ fees.
According to Fox News, Newsom also allegedly sought to amend his original complaint, filed June 27 in the Superior Court of Delaware. His representative did not confirm the allegation.
“With Gov. Newsom facing possible payment of Fox’s attorney fees and political embarrassment, we’re not surprised he has told us he plans to amend his original complaint,” Fox News Media said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times on Aug. 7. “But no amendment will change that this case is a transparent publicity stunt and a colossal waste of the court’s time and resources.”
Newsom’s complaint accused Fox News of making a misleading video clip and multiple false statements about the timing of his call with Trump, allegedly acting with malice to brand the governor a liar and curry favor with the president.
“Setting the record straight and confronting Fox’s dishonest practices are critical to protecting democracy from being overrun by disinformation and lies,” Newsom stated in the lawsuit.
Fox News reported June 10 that Newsom said he did not get a call from Trump, who was interviewed by Fox and shared a screenshot of a call he said he had with the governor about the Los Angeles immigration riots, dated 1:23 a.m. on June 7, that lasted 16 minutes.
“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” Newsom wrote in a post on X, in reply to a video of Trump telling reporters on June 10 he had spoken with the governor “a day ago.”
In his lawsuit, Newsom said he did not speak with Trump again after a June 7 phone call.
In the motion filed this week, Fox News said the court should dismiss the case.
“The allegedly defamatory statement—that Newsom ‘lied’ when he said ‘There was no call’—is substantially true. Newsom made an unqualified assertion that no call had taken place when in fact he and President Trump had spoken just days before,” Fox stated.
“Newsom cannot create conditions ripe for confusion or misinterpretation and then demand a $787 million ransom from a news organization taking his words at face value.”
