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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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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.