Gavin Newsom shrugged off Fox News calling his new lawsuit against them an effort to “chill free speech.”
While talking with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen on Friday, Newsom was read Fox News’ response to his defamation lawsuit that called for $787 million in damages, a retraction and formal apology from Jesse Watters after saying the governor lied about a recent phone call with President Trump.
“Governor Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him,” Fox News’ statement read. “We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”
Cohen asked for Newsom’s response and the governor pointed out that “it’s almost verbatim what they said in the Dominion case.” He is suing for the same amount Dominion Voting Systems did in their lawsuit against the network.
“They knew they had lied in that original statement against Dominion,” he said. “They’re lying in this case. I mean, look at the chyron you just put up says, ‘Gavin Lied About Call [With] Trump.’ Period. Full Stop. I mean, I don’t know what more smoking gun you need.”
Newsom continued: “And so look, this organization, it needs to be held to account. I think what’s so frustrating, I think for all of us is they learned no lessons from that defamation case as it relates to Dominion. Nothing, they continue the practices that led to that record-breaking settlement.”
“That’s why this needed to be filed and that’s why we felt compelled to make this case and to assert ourselves. Look, if they want to apologize, they can apologize, and if they want to hide behind these lies, they’ll pay a price.”
According to the governor’s lawsuit obtained by TheWrap, he last spoke to the president on June 7 for about 16 minutes; the call came a day after President Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to counter protesters amid the anti-ICE demonstrations that happened in the city.
Later, on June 10, Trump said he spoke to Newsom “a day ago,” which Newsom pushed back against. Watters then asked on air, “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” while flashing a screenshot of Trump’s June 7 call with Newsom on the screen, which had been obtained by Fox News reporter John Roberts. That move, according to Newsom’s attorneys, fits the legal standard for defamation.
“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 in a statement to TheWrap when the lawsuit was filed. “I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
You can watch Newsom’s interview in the video above.
The post Gavin Newsom Shrugs Off Fox News Claim He’s Suing to ‘Chill Free Speech,’ Says On-Air Lies Are ‘Smoking Gun’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.