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‘Reasonable’ CNN viewers couldn’t mistake Trump for Hitler, judge rules
(JTA) – A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN, ruling that the network’s use of the phrase “The Big Lie” to describe the former president’s 2020 election claims could not lead a reasonable viewer to believe that Trump is comparable to Adolf Hitler.
U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal issued his decision late Friday, noting in his opinion that CNN’s rhetoric “does not give rise to a plausible inference that Trump advocates the persecution and genocide of Jews or any other group of people.”
Singhal added, “No reasonable viewer could (or should) plausibly make that reference.”
Trump’s legal team sued the news network last fall for $475 million, claiming that it had defamed Trump when its on-air pundits repeatedly compared his false election fraud claims to the way Hitler used propaganda in his own rise to power. Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump’s lawyers zeroed in on one claim in particular: CNN personalities’ use of the phrase “Big Lie.” The term is commonly understood to refer to Nazi propaganda tactics, in particular propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ purported strategy of repeating big lies so often that people would start to believe them, though there is no evidence Goebbels himself ever defined the term this way.
“The ‘Big Lie’ was used by Hitler to incite hatred of the Jews and to convince people to ostracize Jewish people,” Trump’s lawyers stated in their lawsuit. “It was an entire propaganda campaign to justify Jewish persecution and genocide. The phrase is not taken lightly and is not bandied about blithely. CNN anchors and commentators understand this. They have not used it against other political leaders and previously criticized political analogies to Nazi Germany and to Hitler.”
Singhal, who was appointed by Trump, rejected the argument.
“Being ‘Hitler-like’ is not a verifiable statement of fact that would support a defamation claim,” he wrote in his dismissal. “CNN’s statements, while repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory.”
The term “big lie” has come to be deployed frequently in politics, from all parts of the ideological spectrum, including by those who aim to remain nonpartisan. In 2019, for example, an Alabama Republican in Congress charged Democrats with perpetrating a “big lie” accusing Trump of collusion with Russia. The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, has also used the term to refer to false claims about the 2020 election results and their consequences.
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The post ‘Reasonable’ CNN viewers couldn’t mistake Trump for Hitler, judge rules appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital
Illustrative. Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
i24 News – Israeli forces concluded an operation to dismantle a Hamas terror headquarters in Gaza’s Kamel Adwan Hospital. Some 240 terror suspects were arrested, including the hospital’s director and some 15 terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre.
The post 240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem
Illustrative. Rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, in Gaza May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammd Salem
JNS.org – The Israeli Air Force on Saturday downed two rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem.
The attack triggered air-raid sirens in the capital, the Western Negev and the the Judean Foothills (the Shfela).
There were no reports of injuries.
Following the rocket fire, the military again called on Palestinians to evacuate parts of the northern Strip.
“Urgent warning to all those who have not yet evacuated the area specified in the map, and the Beit Hanun area [in the Strip’s northeast] in particular,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, posted to X.
“This area has been warned many times in the past. The IDF is operating in this area with force. You must evacuate the area immediately and move south towards Salah El Din Road. Moving via another road exposes you to danger,” he added.
On Dec. 11, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired four rockets at southern Israel, setting off sirens in several towns and villages along the border. The Israel Defense Forces intercepted two of the rockets, with the others impacting in open areas, causing no damage.
On Dec. 3, the IAF intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza.
The IDF’s year-plus-long offensive against Hamas in the enclave has greatly curbed rocket fire from the Strip, although Palestinian terrorists still intermittently target the Jewish state.
The post IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.