BREAKING: Newsom Sues Fox News For $787 MILLION
No More Lies: Newsom Takes Fox News to Court
Gavin Newsom has had enough. On Friday the California governor unleashed a $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging the network knowingly broadcast a doctored clip to paint him as a liar about a phone call with Donald Trump. It is the most aggressive legal broadside a sitting U.S. governor has launched at the conservative media giant.
The Edited Clip at the Heart of the Fight
According to the filing, Fox host Jesse Watters showed viewers Trump’s remarks about phoning Newsom—yet trimmed out the part where Trump said the call happened “a day ago.” That snip, Newsom’s lawyers argue, made it appear the governor had falsely denied any conversation at all, thus harming his credibility just as National Guard troops rolled into Los Angeles.
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Why $787 Million?
Newsom’s demand mirrors Fox’s Dominion payout, a deliberate reminder that disinformation can carry a sky-high price tag. He vows to donate every penny to organizations battling Trump-era policies, turning potential damages into political ammunition.
What Fox News Must Do Next
Newsom offers an off-ramp: retract the story, run an on-air apology with the same prominence as the original segment, and the case disappears. Otherwise, the governor’s legal team—bolstered by veterans of the Sandy Hook and Alex Jones fights—looks ready to force Fox back into a Delaware courtroom it knows all too well.
The Larger Stakes
Beyond reputational damage, the suit signals that high-profile Democrats will deploy the courts against what they call right-wing propaganda. If successful, Newsom could set a precedent that emboldens other public figures to challenge media falsehoods rather than merely fact-check them online.
Great news
About time. Keep up the pressure!