A federal judge in Florida has ruled that President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corp. can proceed. Judge Jeffrey T Kuntz denied in part the broadcaster's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the legal action to move forward.
The lawsuit stems from a Panorama documentary titled Trump: A Second Chance. Trump alleges that the BBC spliced together disparate comments he made before the January 6 attack on the US Capitol to suggest he was inciting violence. While the BBC admitted the edits were misleading, it has denied being liable for defamation.
Judge Kuntz stated that Trump plausibly pled damages where the defamatory documentary released toward an election caused reputational harm, noting it would be difficult to accept a different framing without negating the significance and fragility of political elections. However, the court dismissed a separate claim alleging the BBC violated a Florida consumer protection law. This dismissal halved the original $10 billion lawsuit to $5 billion.
President Trump has hailed the court's decision as A Huge Victory as he continues his campaign of litigation against the media.