Newsom sues Fox News for reporting he lied about phone call with Trump
Governor Gavin Newsom of California on Friday filed a lawsuit against Fox News in a Delaware superior court over the network’s report claiming he lied about having a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 9 during anti-ICE demonstrations
Mr Newsom is seeking $787 million in damages in his defamation suit against the conservative news network after show anchor Jesse Watters claimed the governor lied about his phone call with Mr Trump.
He said he had a late-night conversation with Mr Trump on June 6 in California, but the East Coast time of the call was 1:00 a.m. June 7. About 24 hours later, the president deployed the National Guard to quell protests, a move that angered Mr Newsom.
The California governor appeared on MSNBC on June 8 to speak about the phone call. Two days later (June 10), at a press briefing at the White House, Mr Trump said the last time he spoke with the governor was “a day ago.”
Mr Newsom immediately rebuffed the claim. “There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a president deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.”
In response, Mr Trump shared his call log with Fox News to show that he had spoken with the governor, and Mr Watters discussed the matter on his programme.
But Mr Newsom said his social media post was to refute the date of his call with the president, not that there was no call. He said he only denied the president’s assertion on June 10 that they spoke “a day ago”, claiming the actual call was on June 7.
“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,” Mr Newsom wrote in a statement to Politico on Friday. “Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
Mr Newsom has demanded an apology from Fox News anchor Watters and a retraction of the report. He said he would withdraw the suit only on these conditions; else, Fox News should prepare to part with $787 million, as done in the Dominion Voters System when the news outlet circulated misleading reports that the voting machines were rigged.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
States
Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future
The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Rights
Kebbi: Gov Idris vows to resettle IDPs uprooted by bandits to their ancestral homes
“We are not here for politics, but we are here to sympathise with you over the recent bandit attacks,” the Kebbi governor said.
Anti-Corruption
Stephen Odiboh sentenced to 33 months for multi-victim wire fraud, romance scams
Stephen Odiboh has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His sentencing was announced on Thursday.
Rights
Nigeria questions UN femicide data, seeks stronger action against women trafficking
Nigeria has raised concerns about the reliability of international statistics on femicide in Africa, citing inadequate data collection and reporting mechanisms.
World
Trump admin to livestream Fort Hood shooter’s public execution, says Pentagon
Mr Hegseth told Real America’s Voice that Mr Hasan would be executed by firing squad to send a message that there are consequences for terrorist acts.
Diaspora
Adetoros, Walters: Three sisters who drowned in sea like their mother died by suicide, coroner rules
Their mother, Janice Adetoro, drowned at sea at the age of 43.
Economy
Nigeria pushes global tax reforms, cheaper development loans at UN
Nigeria has called for urgent reforms of the international financial architecture to address high borrowing costs and persistent development financing gaps.
